Counting Oceanians of Non-European, Non-Asian Descent (ONENA) in the South Pacific to Make Them Count in Global Health

Arnaud Tarantola (1, 2) , Paul Horwood (3) , Cyrille Goarant (1, 2) , Bertrand Buffière (4) , Solène Bertrand (4) , Onofre Edwin A Merilles (4) , Thierry Pedron (5) , Elise Klement-Frutos (6, 1) , Philippe Sansonetti (5, 7) , Lluis Quintana-Murci (8, 9) , Vincent Richard (1, 2)

1 Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie
2 RIIP - Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur
3 JCU - James Cook University
4 Communauté du Pacifique/Pacific Community
5 Pathogénie microbienne moléculaire
6 Centre hospitalier territorial Gaston-Bourret [Nouméa]
7 Collège de France - Chaire Microbiologie et Maladies infectieuses
8 Génétique Evolutive Humaine - Human Evolutionary Genetics
9 Collège de France - Chaire Génomique humaine et évolution

Several diseases and vulnerabilities associated with genetic or microbial factors are more frequent among populations of Oceanian, Non-European, Non-Asian descent (ONENA). ONENA are specific and have long been isolated geographically. To our knowledge, there are no published official, quantitative, aggregated data on the populations impacted by these excess vulnerabilities in Oceania. We searched official census reports for updated estimates of the total population for each of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (including Australia) and the US State of Hawaii, privileging local official statistical or censual sources. We multiplied the most recent total population estimate by the cumulative percentage of the ONENA population as determined in official reports. Including Australia and the US State of Hawaii, Oceania counts 27 countries and territories, populated in 2016 by approximately 41 M inhabitants (17 M not counting Australia) among which approximately 12.5 M (11.6 M not counting Australia) consider themselves of entire or partial ONENA ancestry. Specific genetic and microbiome traits of ONENA may be unique and need further investigation to adjust risk estimates, risk prevention, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, to the benefit of populations in the Pacific and beyond.

Mots clés: global health; ethnic groups; indigenous health; nutritional and metabolic diseases; infectious diseases; pacific islands; non-communicable diseases; epidemiology; type 2; medical genetics; diabetes mellitus

Domaines: Génétique humaine; Démographie; Génétique des populations [q-bio.PE]; Maladies infectieuses; Endocrinologie et métabolisme

Arnaud Tarantola, Paul Horwood, Cyrille Goarant, Bertrand Buffière, Solène Bertrand, et al.. Counting Oceanians of Non-European, Non-Asian Descent (ONENA) in the South Pacific to Make Them Count in Global Health. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 2019, 4 (3), pp.114. ⟨10.3390/tropicalmed4030114⟩. ⟨hal-02296560⟩