The potential for developing and promoting the counselling profession in Vanuatu is extremely low due to several reasons. Firstly, more than 70% of Vanuatu citizens live in rural areas, of which most could not even access primary healthcare services that are mainly located in the main city islands. As a result, they would usually resort to consulting their respective village chiefs or pastors. Furthermore, there are over 110 different “mother tongue” languages being spoken in the country. The country’s official trade language, Bislama has no translations for mental health terms such as depression or anxiety.
However, in 2009, the WHO coordinated the Pacific Islands Mental Health Network to assist countries such as Vanuatu to address the problems of the mental health system (or the lack thereof) in the country. It provided mental health training to health professionals, community leaders, and social service personnel as well as conducted periodic visits to assess the progress of the program outcomes. The training programs consist of presentations on the definition of mental illness and its types, communication skills, crisis management, CBT, the mental health of various age groups, and alcohol and drug abuse. The current state of this program is unknown.