 The medical staff on each island were assisted by women's committees which, from about 1930, played an important role in health, hygiene and sanitation.During World War II the hospital on Fongafale atoll was dismantled as the American forces built an airfield on this atoll.The hospital was shifted to Funafala atoll under the responsibility of Dr Ka, while Dr Simeona Peni provided medical services to the American forces at the 76-bed hospital on Fongafale that was built by the Americans at Vailele.