by frog
Samoan community leader and boxing promoter Teleiai Edwin Puni’s decision to postpone next Tuesday’s planned boxing show to minimise the spread of swine flu is a welcome and responsible move.
The Fight for Unity tournament organised by Event Polynesia Boxing at the Otara Recreation Centre – an international sports event originally planned for July 14 – will now be held in October.
Mr Puni says Event Polynesia Boxing wants to take a responsible stance, contributing to the managing of the spread of swine flu in New Zealand and further afield.
Pacific people are at high risk of contracting the H1N1 virus because of their communal nature and mobility in New Zealand and internationally.
Mr Puni says the Otara promotion was a chance for swine flu to spread, given that people attending would come from all over Auckland, plus from other parts of New Zealand, and Samoa. He says the risk that fight fans and boxers alike could contract and spread the virus is too great, hence the postponement.
Mr Puni says Event Polynesia Boxing will monitor an event planned for Samoa in September during the Teuila festival period, to see if postponement is appropriate.
Event Polynesia organises a range of sports and cultural events in New Zealand and the Pacific.
Published in Health & Wellbeing | Society & Culture by frog on Thu, July 9th, 2009
Tags: Apia, Auckland, boxing, Edwin Puni, Event Polynesia, Otara, Samoa, Samoan community, swine flu, Teuila Festival
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Forgive me, but this is a story? Don’t think this one guy represents “the Samoan community” either.
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Malaria kills more people in one hour than this “pandemic” has claimed in all. This swine flu does not meet the definition of a pandemic so why are we calling it one? The media is going on like we were in the middle of the Black Plague or something. This is ridiculous. The media are just fear mongers. Nothing boosts ratings better than spreading fear and causing panic. Shame on you!
~ rovinj
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Rovinj,
The definition of a pandemic (quoted from Wikipedia) is:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met:
* emergence of a disease new to a population;
* agents infect humans, causing serious illness; and
* agents spread easily and sustainably among humans.
Which means swine flu is a pandemic, even though it isn’t killing many people (flu is a serious illness).
I agree with you about the media scaremongering. I know three people who have had the swine flu. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but it isn’t like malaria or any of a number of other diseases which kill many more people year after year.
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The media generally just regurgitate the press releases that land on their desks especially if they are sensational to be sure. More thorough investigation and assessment form the media would be nice.
Leading the way in the scaremongering is usually politicians and bureaucrats who are attracted to matters that scare the public thereby justifying their powerful and expensive positions. Power and funding has been successfully diverted in the latest example – the swine flu which predictably behaves like any other commonly arising new strain of flu.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10577277
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