Interior Announces $1,737,051 in FY 2021 Funding for the Four Atoll Healthcare Program in the Marshall Islands

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs has announced $1,737,051 in funding to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Ministry of Health and Human Services for the Four Atoll Healthcare Program. The program provides basic healthcare services for the people of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utrok, the four nuclear-affected atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“We are pleased to provide this funding for healthcare services for the residents of the four nuclear-affected atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” said OIA Director and Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Nikolao Pula. “These funds are provided as part of the historical and continuing relationship that we share with the people of the Marshall Islands.”

The fiscal year 2021 funding provided to the Four Atoll Healthcare Program will be used to support healthcare clinics on Majuro, Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utrok that provide healthcare to approximately 20,000 people. Services include primary and ancillary healthcare services such as eye care, dental care, cervical screenings, and diabetes prevention and wellness education.

Since 2008, the Office of Insular Affairs has provided funding assistance to the Four Atoll Healthcare Program - sometimes referred to as the Section 177 Healthcare Program. Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utrok are the four atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands that were impacted by the nuclear weapons testing program carried out by the U.S. Department of Defense between 1946 and 1958.

For more information on grant assistance provided through OIA, please visit: https://www.doi.gov/oia/financial-assistance.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, @InsularAffairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Follow and “like” OIA on Facebook and subscribe to the OIA YouTube Channel.

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