Cook Islands Integrated National Strategic Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health (2014 -2018)

The resident population of the Cook Islands was estimated at 14,974 in 2011(Cook Islands census 2011). There has been a population shift from the outer islands to the main population centres in Rarotonga and Aitutaki with 85% (13,097) living there. Life expectancy at birth is 72.8 years and it has an infant mortality rate of 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. The economy is largely dependent on tourism with a majority of tourists coming from New Zealand.

The NSP Working Group met from June 2012 to October 2013 and identified the following Priority Areas for the Cook Islands Integrated National Strategic Plan for Sexual and Reproductive Health. These priority areas are integrated with each other and not prioritised within themselves; each is as important as the others: leadership and policies, prevention and gender rights, program integration, comprehensive management of STIs and family planning, reproductive health and gender based violence.