An Australian-based Samoan doctor, Kuinileti Dr. Chang Wai has cautioned the Samoan community in Australia about their health and says koko Samoa is one of the major reasons for high cholesterol amongst them.

The Samoan doctor who graduated from the University of Otago Medical School in New Zealand, has extensive experience working in general medicine and in hospitals in New Zealand and Australia. She is one of the founding chairpersons of the Oceania Pacific Health Association in Australia. She also worked as a volunteer after the tsunami in 2009 and the measles epidemic in 2019 to 2020.

In an interview on the Laulua Fesilafai program on the Pacific TV and Radio, Dr. Chang Wai stressed on solutions for the ongoing issue of high cholesterol in Samoans in Australia and explained that some of the leading causes of high cholesterol is food maintenance and too much "koko Samoa".

"For any Samoan either born in Samoa or overseas, majority experience high cholesterol due to their consumption because yes they enjoy the usual food they eat like fasipovi masina (beef), pig head, as well as lamb but all that type of food contains too much fats which builds up their cholesterol," she said.

"Another thing is the koko Samoa which our people love so much. Yes you can have one or two but not more and that's what I keep telling our people here when they come to see me when they get sick, I always say to them, moderation is the key."

Dr. Chang Wai advised Samoans all over that to fix this problem. She said if they can not change their eating habits, they can remove the skin of the chicken, remove the fatty parts of steak or beef, and consume more soups with vegetables.

She also explained that one of the other issues contributing to high cholesterol is that many of the Samoans have other natural illnesses such as high blood pressure and others which makes their conditions even more worse.

"If they sit on it and don't fix it as early as possible by supervising their food consumption and exercise on a normal routine, it will lead to effects such as affected blood veins which lead to the heart, brain and other parts of the body," Dr. Chang Wai stressed.

• RETRACTION: This story published in the Monday 4 September 2023 edition of the Samoa Observer under the headline “Doctor issues Koko Samoa warning” reported on the Australian-based Samoan doctor, Kuinileti Dr. Chang Wai cautioning the Samoan community in Australia about their health and koko Samoa being a cause of high cholesterol. It has since been brought to our attention that the translation of Dr. Chang Wai’s interview with Pasifika TV and Radio, which was done in Samoan, was a misrepresentation and did not wholly represent her views on the issue. On that note, we retract the story and apologise to Dr. Chang Wai for any distress this may have caused her and her work. Samoa Observer Management