🇹🇻 Tuvalu Healthcare Guide
One hospital — Princess Margaret Hospital on Funafuti — and outer atolls have only nurse-staffed clinics. Bring everything you'll need and plan around medevac to Fiji.
Quick facts
- Emergency number: 911
- Ambulance: 911
- Healthcare system: limited
- Average GP visit: $30 USD
- EHIC/GHIC accepted: No
- Language barrier: low
Healthcare overview
Tuvalu's healthcare is centralised at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti, the capital atoll. Each of the eight outer atolls has a small clinic staffed by a nurse practitioner, with no doctor on site. The system is government-run and free at point of use for citizens.
PMH provides primary care, basic surgery, maternity, and stabilisation. Anything beyond that — major trauma, cardiology, advanced obstetrics, oncology — requires medical evacuation, almost always to Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, Fiji, or further to New Zealand. Diagnostic imaging at PMH is basic; there is no MRI and CT capability is limited.
Vaccinations
Recommended
- Routine vaccines up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Hepatitis B (longer stays)
Prescriptions and pharmacies
Bring all prescription medications in original packaging with a doctor's letter listing each by INN (generic) name, dose, and indication. The PMH pharmacy stocks essentials but supply is frequently disrupted by shipping delays.
Foreign prescriptions are not directly fillable. There are no retail pharmacies outside the hospital. If you take chronic medication, bring at least 50% more than your planned trip duration.
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