Donald J Wilson

Fiji National University | FNU · College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Watersheds offer opportunities for place-based interventions to transform systems health via preventative versus reactive approaches to management that achieve multiple co-benefits for public and environmental health. The Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project embraced participatory knowledge co-production and action...

During November-December 2021, we performed a SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence survey in Central and Western Divisions of Fiji. A total of 539 participants 8-70 years of age were 95.5% (95% CI 93.4%-97.1%) seropositive, indicating high community levels of immunity. Seroprevalence studies can inform public health responses to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Background There is a crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Pacific Islands, and poor diets are a major contributor. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis will likely further exacerbate the burden on food systems. Pacific Island leaders have adopted a range of food policies and regulations to improve diets. This includes t...

Healthy environments support the wellbeing of children and the environment thus play a cardinal role in the future of Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Children are more vulnerable and at risk to environmental hazards than adults because they breathe, drink, and eat much more relative to body weight, resulting in greater exposures in the different e...

Rural communities in Fiji, like many countries in the Pacific region, use on-site sanitation systems which have been linked to faecal-oral diseases like typhoid fever. This study aimed to explore the safety of existing sanitation infrastructure and to estimate the proportion of safely managed systems (SDG 6.2 targets). This study was conducted in 2...

The Guttmacher-Lancet Commission report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights called for the acceleration of progress to achieve SRHR that is essential for sustainable development. To integrate the essential services defined in this report into universal health coverage in the 11 sovereign nations in the Pacific, quality data is required to...

Introduction: The United Nations high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases passed a political declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) prevention and control in 2011, emphasizing the great need for NCD surveillance including in Low-to-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs). Method: A review...

This short communication explores the challenges and ways forward for the delivery of sexual and reproductive health care in Pacific Island countries during the pandemic and the responses in relation to contraception, the management of unintended pregnancies, and gender-based violence.

Care-givers plays are pivotal role in diabetes management. Being responsible for most of the support (physical, emotional, psycological) needed by patients, care-givers spend the most time with patient after hospital specialised care. This holds the care-givers role a vital component in achieving quality diabetes care.This study aims to to capture...

Background Asbestos exposure is associated with the development of the cancer malignant mesothelioma (MM). Measurement of soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMRP) has been suggested as a method for detection of MM in its early stages. We prospectively examined SMRP levels in subjects with asbestos exposure who are a group at a high risk of develop...

Background Diabetes is a global health problem reaching pandemic proportions. In Fiji, diabetes has a prevalence rate of 15.6% in 2011which is estimated to rise to 19.3% in 2020. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of poor glycaemic control level and its determinants among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods This re...

Background: Glycemic control is the centre in diabetes management. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), glycemic control is associated with clinical determinants. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of poor glycemic control level and its clinical determinants among T2DM patients. Methods: This retrospective cross-sect...

Background Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been declared a crisis in the Pacific Islands, and poor diets are a major contributor to this. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis will likely increase the burden on food systems, exacerbating this situation. Pacific Island leaders have been proactive in adopting a range of food polic...

This is an initial step to build Fiji's first NCD Surveillance System.

Although welding is an industrial process with well-known health effects, the effects of heavy metal exposure on the respiratory system during welding are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the correlation between blood lead and cadmium levels, and respiratory function among welders. The study investigates 207 male subjects who applied...

Introduction and Aim: Diabetes is one of the largest health emergencies in the 21st century. In Fiji, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the number one cause of premature deaths and disability. The aim of this study was to determine the socio-demographic determinants of poor glycemic control among T2DM patients attending clinics at the three select...

Background: Mount Oyama, on the Japanese island of Miyakejima, began erupting in June 2000, necessitating the evacuation of 3,000 island residents. Volcanic gas emissions, primarily consisting of sulfur dioxide (SO2), gradually decreased and residents returned to the island after the evacuation order was lifted in February 2005. Objectives: To asse...

Background: Heavy metal exposure has dose-dependent neurotoxic, nephrotoxic, immunotoxic and genotoxic effects. In some regions of Turkey, toxic heavy metal concentrations have been found in natural habitats, but there are insufficient data for heavy metal profiles of workers at occupational settings. Therefore we examined heavy metal profiles of c...

Background Inhalation of asbestos fibers can lead to adverse health effects on the lungs. This study describes lung function profiles among subjects with nonmalignant asbestos-related disorders (ARDs). Method The study population was from the Workers` Compensation (Dust Diseases) Board of NSW, Sydney, Australia. Lung function measurements were con...

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is increasingly widely used in industrial, commercial and home products. TiO2 aggravates respiratory symptoms by induction of pulmonary inflammation although the mechanisms have not been well investigated. We aimed to investigate lung inflammation in rabbits after intratracheal instillation of P25 TiO2. One ml of 10, 50 and...

The fact that hazardous metals do not bio-degrade or bio-deteriorate translates to long-lasting environmental effects. In the context of evidently rapid global industrialization, this ought to warrant serious caution, particularly in developing countries. In the Republic of Fiji, a developing country in the South Pacific, several different environm...

Despite the fact that asbestos is a known carcinogen to humans, it is still used in industrialized countries, especially Asian countries. The global incidence of asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) due to the past use of asbestos, continues to increase, although many countries have adopted a total ban on asbestos use. The implementation of effective s...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality from cancer among men and women worldwide. More individuals die each year of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancer combined. Despite new diagnostic techniques, the overall 5-year survival rate remains at approximately 15% and the majority of patients still present with advanced disease....

Background: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive pleural tumor which is difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Thus, biomarkers for MM including soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMRP) are currently an area of intense research interest. However, SMRP is affected by several factors other than malignancy which need to be taken into acc...

It has been reported that arterial stiffness assessed by pulse wave velocity (PWV) can predict cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Metabolic syndrome and smoking are independently associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of smoking on the relationship between metabolic syndro...

Research over recent years have shown that titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) induce inflammation in various lung, kidney, liver and brain cells. Although the mechanism of inflammation is unclear, existing literature suggests the underlying role of oxidative stress. On the other hand, it has also been shown that nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-...

Iodine deficiency is defined by the goiter and the urinary iodine concentration. However, a lack of local thyroid volume reference data resulted in the vague definition of goiter, especially in school-aged children. The aim of this paper was to determine the thyroid volumes by ultrasonography in schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years living in Cagayan a...

Objectives Mount Oyama on Miyakejima Island, Tokyo, erupted in June, 2000. All Miyake village citizens were forced to evacuate from the island in September, 2000, due to continuous eruptions and emissions of unsafe amounts of volcanic gas, mainly SO2. From February, 2005, residents started to return to the island despite the fact that volcanic gas...

Measurement of released lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, a commonly used marker of lethal cell injury in both in vitro and in vivo screenings, has been used to assess the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles (NPs), chemical compounds, and environmental factors. We have recently demonstrated that titanium dioxide (TiO₂) particles bind to several serum...

A 75 year-old male patient presented with exertional dyspnea that he had suffered for 7 days. The chest X-ray showed right-sided pneumothorax. Closed thoracostomy was performed on the 1st day of hospitalization and repeated with talc sclerotherapy and lower-power suction, but neither could improve air-leakage. On the 14th day of hospitalization, th...

Chest pain may be the first symptom of developing respiratory malignancy, particularly in subjects with asbestos exposure, yet little information exists on this topic. To investigate chest pain in a cohort of subjects exposed to asbestos and silica dust applying for compensation. Cross-sectional study using a standardized questionnaire. Data collec...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between diabetes and medical and dental care costs from a 5-yr prospective observation of Japanese workers. The data were derived from health and dental examinations and health insurance claims of 4,086 workers aged 40-54 yr. At baseline, the subjects were assigned to four categories: know...

Diabetes is associated with a high prevalence of periodontal disease, but little is known about the effects of periodontal disease on incident diabetes. In total, 5848 non-diabetic individuals aged 30-59 yrs who completed a health examination were analyzed in this study. They were divided into three categories: no pathological pockets, moderate per...

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is mainly caused eosinophilic meningitis in humans, whereas a minority of patients develop encephalitic angiostrongyliasis (EA). EA is an extremely fatal condition, and the clinical factors predictive of EA have never been reported. A comparison study was conducted in a hospital situated in an endemic area of Thailand. W...

Smoking has been established as an important risk factor for periodontal disease and tooth loss. The purpose of this study was a prospective evaluation of the effects of smoking on dental care utilization and its costs, based on data from 5712 males aged 20-59 yrs. Age, dental health behavior, and history of diabetes were adjusted in a multivariate...

In response to the health risks posed by asbestos exposure, some countries have imposed strict regulations and adopted bans, whereas other countries have intervened less and continue to use varying quantities of asbestos. This study was designed to assess, on a global scale, national experiences of recent mortality from pleural mesothelioma, histor...

In China, significant levels of environmental pollution, substandard worksite quality and high rates of smoking predispose the population to potentially high risks of respiratory illnesses and other diseases. We assessed the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and their risks in relation to personal, occupational and environmental risk factors in a...

The potential for a global epidemic of asbestos-related diseases is a growing concern. Our aim was to assess the ecological association between national death rates from diseases associated with asbestos and historical consumption of asbestos. We calculated, for all countries with data, yearly age-adjusted mortality rates by sex (deaths per million...

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the ratification status of occupational safety and health (OSH)-related ILO conventions and reported occupational fatality rates of ILO member countries, while controlling for possible confounding factors. ILO member states were divided into 4 levels of income status, based on the gross n...

Although the effect of disorders on psychological well-being is well-known, there are few studies focusing on oral conditions at the worksite. The present study examined the association between psychological well-being and oral conditions of Japanese workers. A cross-sectional study was performed using data from 1381 Japanese civil service officers...

The present study was conducted to analyze the ratification status of International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions related to occupational safety and health (OSH) by ILO member states in terms of national indicators (length of ILO membership and national income status) and regional affiliation. 17 conventions designated as OSH-related by the...