In Kadavu, what stands in the way is often geography.
Communities spread across islands can be separated from specialist healthcare, preventative screening, educational resources and government services not by lack of need, but by distance, boats, fuel, weather and the considerable logistics of getting people and equipment where they need to be.
Kokomo already has much of that infrastructure. Its boats can move teams between islands. Its accommodation and kitchens can house and feed visiting specialists. Its medical clinic provides a base. Its aircraft and supply chain provide further logistical support. Increasingly, the question being asked by head of the island’s medical team Paula Regade and the wider Kokomo team is: how can those resources serve the community beyond the island?
The results to date have become increasingly tangible.
In 2025 Kokomo facilitated ophthalmic screening for 214 people. Of those, 152 were identified with refractive errors, 38 received prescription glasses and 114 were referred to Suva for further testing free of charge.
Later that year, Kokomo spearheaded a comprehensive Rheumatic Heart Disease screening outreach across the Ono District in partnership with Fiji’s Ministry of Health RHD Department and Sai Prema Children’s Hospital. Over three days 265 people were screened including more than 200 students. Six previously undiagnosed cases were identified, allowing those patients to enter ongoing treatment and follow-up pathways.
Importantly, the word didn’t end when the screening team left. Paula liaised with local health practitioners to ensure the newly diagnosed patients could be followed locally, with ongoing monthly treatment, while further specialist testing was arranged in Suva where required.
The program also demonstrated how Kokomo’s outreach is evolving beyond isolated medical interventions. The Marine Team joined the RHD outreach to speak with students and villagers about reef health, sustainable fishing practices and coral protection, while Fiji’s Land Transport Authority delivered road-safety education. Health became the starting point for a much broader conversation about resilient communities.
The next initiative will focus on women.
From October 27-31, a specialist team from Fiji’s Ministry of Health is scheduled to travel to the district for a cervical screening and treatment program. Importantly, the screening has been designed so that the women can self-administer the test, helping reduce some of the stigma, discomfort or insecurity associated with this type of regular screening. Rather than requiring women to travel to a major hospital and then wait for a conventional testing to be processed, the team will bring technology capable of producing results locally within the hour, with eligible treatment available during the same visit. Kokomo will help facilitate the specialist’s journey from Suva and their movement between island communities, with the program expected to reach approximately 250 women aged between 30 and 59.
And Kokomo is already looking further ahead.
A proposed 2027 food security and community-resilience program would bring together Kokomo, the Ministry of Agriculture and external partners to establish village nurseries, distribute locally appropriate plants and support backyard growing, with education and monitoring build into the program.
Alongside these larger initiatives is quieter work that rarely makes headlines: supporting medical evacuations; helping neighbouring communities access Kokomo’s medical facilities when urgent circumstance arises.; transporting educational materials; and supporting the Ono Foundation Fiji, including the movement of approximately three pallets of resources each year to seven local schools.
None of this happens because Kokomo Private Island can solve the problem alone. Quite the opposite. The model depends on collaboration, with Fijian government departments, specialist healthcare providers, NGOs, schools, villages and the Kokomo team itself. What Kokomo can do is help make those partnerships possible.
On a remote island, sometimes the most valuable thing you can provide isn’t this solution. It’s the boat, the bed, the fuel, the people and the determination to get the solution where it needs to go.
And increasingly, that’s what community at Kokomo means.
