Breaking the “Suga” Curse: Reclaiming Health in Pasifika Communities

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Type 2 Diabetes is a silent epidemic in the Pacific, shaping generational narratives around health, culture, and survival. For many Pasifika families, Type 2 Diabetes, known as Suga, is more than just a disease. It is deeply ingrained in everyday conversations about loved ones lost, limbs amputated, and hospital visits that too often end in mourning.

I come from the Gunantuna (Tolai) people of East New Britain, a small island home in the Bismarck Sea. My family, like so many others, have felt the weight of Suga firsthand. Six of my maternal uncles lost their lives to diabetes complications, three of whom endured amputations before passing. In 2016, my aunt also succumbed to Type 2 Diabetes—their battles compounded by a fractured healthcare system in Papua New Guinea. But that, perhaps, is a story for another time.

My mother is the last surviving child out of eight.

The burden is immeasurable. The grief is heavy. And we tiptoe in fear, wondering who will be next to be struck down by the Suga curse?

But yesterday, in a health information session led by the brilliant Dr. Heena Akbar, something shifted. I attended a Diabetes Prevention and Heart Health session held in Brisbane, organised by Oceania Pacific Health Association in collaboration with the East New Britain Community Queensland Group.

This was more than an informational community information session, it was a transformative moment for my Tolai community.

For the first time, Suga wasn’t just an inevitability—it was something that could be challenged.

Dr. Heena has proven that communities can reclaim health through knowledge. Dr. Heena didn’t just share facts- she dismantled long-standing cultural myths. In many Pasifika cultures, illnesses, including diabetes, are often attributed to black magic or sorcery. Families speak of the Suga curse, believing their suffering is the result of spiritual forces rather than lifestyle and diet.

She debunked this with compassion and clarity. The real sorcery is in our diets.

Before colonisation, Pasifika diets were rich in whole foods—root crops, fresh seafood, and nutrient-dense produce. But the introduction of processed sugar, wheat, and salt disrupted traditional eating habits, leaving communities vulnerable to a disease they barely understood. My Melanesian grandparents' generation were told that these new foods were signs of progress. Instead, they became poison, and the impact has been devastating.

Families have lost parents, siblings, and children to a disease that thrives on misinformation and a lack of access to proper healthcare.

Yet, the tides are shifting. Thanks to professionals like Dr. Heena Akbar and organisations like Oceana Pacific Health Association.

A cultural breakthrough is understanding our bodies. One of the most impactful moments in Dr. Heena’s session was when she used a simple diagram to explain diabetes in a way that made sense culturally. For many attendees, despite decades of seeing similar images, this was the first time the message truly landed.

Understanding our bodies—not through a Western lens, but through language and examples that resonated with our traditions—was a revelation. The classic food triangle image was replaced with the Healthy Taro Leaf to illustrate what should be on our plates.

There is incredible power when there is representation in Pasifika Health. For too long, Pasifika communities have been underrepresented in mainstream health discussions. Our unique cultural frameworks, family structures, and ways of understanding illness often don’t align with Western medical models, leaving many feeling unheard and unseen in healthcare spaces.

This is why sessions like this matter. Seeing a Pasifika health professional - someone who understands not just the science, but the cultural narratives that shape how we perceive our health - creates trust.

It fosters safe spaces where our concerns aren’t dismissed but rather acknowledged and addressed in ways that feel authentic to us.

When Dr Heena spoke of diabetes not as a personal failure, but as the result of colonial dietary shifts, lack of education, and awareness, it was a moment of empowerment.

She wasn’t just teaching—she was validating lived experiences. Representation in healthcare goes beyond numbers; it’s about ensuring Pasifika voices lead the conversation, shaping research, policies, and community-led solutions.

By reclaiming these narratives and increasing visibility, we change the trajectory of health outcomes for future generations. We make sure that when our people seek care, they are met with understanding, not judgment.

I can finally see and feel the shift from fear to action. For so long, I, like many others, felt powerless against Type 2 Diabetes. We have accepted it as fate. But that ends here.

This session wasn’t just about learning—it was about reclaiming health. It was about seeing Suga for what it truly is: a challenge, not a curse.

With this knowledge, we can fight back. We can shift our diets, break generational patterns, and demand culturally informed healthcare.

The burden doesn’t have to continue—it can stop with us.

This article isn’t just about one session—it’s a rallying cry.

For every Pasifika person who has felt helpless, who has lost someone, who has feared Suga—know this:

You are not alone. And you are not powerless.

With knowledge, action, and culturally informed health programs like the one led by Dr. Heena Akbar and community initiatives by Ocean Pacific Health Association, we can rewrite our health narrative.

The fight against Suga is ours. And together, we will win.

You can reach out to OPHA to host a session for your community. Contact admin@opha.com.au

Pasifika communities are invited to join various online sessions in the month of May. For more details, please visit their events page at www.opha.com.au/events (http://www.opha.com.au/events).