Category Press Release

Health Ministry encourages backyard vegetable gardens 

The Health Ministry encourages the public to invest in backyard vegetable gardens especially with the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, anemia, and obesity in the country.

Establishing a vegetable garden in the home is cost efficient and will prove beneficial to the family. Not only will this provide a source of fresh vegetables but is a form of physical activity as well.

Vegetable gardens will also provide a daily source of vitamins and minerals required by the body to thrive.

Home gardens will also allow people to budget and save money that would otherwise be spent on groceries and poor food choices.

Many do not try vegetable gardening due to limited yard space. However, there are other options available such as planting vegetables in pot plants or buckets.

The Health Ministry has established vegetable gardens at its hospitals and health facilities around the country.

People are encouraged to source fresh vegetables and incorporate them into their daily diets. This fresh food will help limit non-communicable diseases caused by poor diet choices including heavily processed foods.

Health services further strengthened in 2016

The Ministry of Health & Medical Services has reminded health staff to be more vigilant towards providing better and efficient services to the public.

The Hon. Assistant Minister of Health & Medical Services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar conveyed this message to staff while visiting the health facilities in Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka, Ba, Tavua and Rakiraki last week. While meeting the health staff Mrs Bhatnagar reminded them of the need to increase efficiency with service delivery so that the strategic development goals are further enhanced.

“I thank you for your continued hard work but we must not forget the expectations of people and give our best to address their medical problems”, said Mrs Bhatnagar.

“Health is one of the areas that needs to be prioritized, and we should be committed to achieving this and meeting our vision of ‘A healthy population’ through our dedicated service”.

Mrs Bhatnagar also thanked the Nadi Hospital for allowing the senior citizens to be seen first and has vowed to introduce this initiative at other health facilities.

Meanwhile, the completion of the new Ba hospital, the Makoi birthing Unit, A&E unit and the operation theatres at Lautoka Hospital are expected to further boost health services offered around the country.

Assistant Minister visits Navua hospital

The Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services visited the Navua Hospital last week to meet the staff of the hospital as well as get the first hand knowledge on the service delivery.

The newly built hospital has been under public attention and numerous issues were raised which have since been addressed .

SDMO Navua Dr Sailosi also briefed Mrs Bhatnagar on the need to relook at the drainage and suggested improvements to the kitchen.

Madam Bhatnagar assured that the Ministry will certainly look into the matter and take the necessary action.

“The Ministry will definitely look into this and appropriate action will be taken to address the issue”, added Mrs Bhatnagar.

Meanwhile Mrs Bhatnagar also welcomed the decision of the hospital to have a new Board of Visitors which will be appointed early next year.

The Ministry of Health, Fiji, wishes to advise that open heart surgery (CABG) will be performed in CWM Hospital ,Suva. Details are as below:

4. Screening of patients …………….. Free from 4.2.016 to 12.2.2016
5. Angiogram from 4.2.2016 to 20.2.2016
6. CABG from 14.2.2016 to 26.2.2016

Medical procedures are performed under Joint Venture agreement between the Ministry of Health & Medical Services and Sahyadri Speciality Pacific Hospitals Limited (SSPHL) Fiji, estimated cost are as follows:

We wish to advise that the Ministry is willing to accommodate referrals from all General Practitioners, Hospital, health centres and Insurance companies, etc.

For further enquiries please contact the following personnel during official hours from Monday to Thursday 8.00a.m to 4.30 p.m Friday from 8.00a.m to 4.00 p.m:

1. Mrs Manjula W. Lal – Ministry of Health, PH -8905025, 3306177(Ext 340165)

We look forward to assisting our citizens in the provision of these specialized services.

 Assistant Minister visits Christmas babies 

Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar was amongst the first people to visit the babies born on Christmas day.

As many people were celebrating Christmas, Mrs Bhatnagar took time out to ensure that the health services are not disrupted and the best possible care available for the arrival of the new faces .

The CWM Hospital recorded 16 deliveries which was slightly less than anticipated as usually there are more deliveries at this time on the year.

Mrs Bhatnagar commended the staff for their hard work and the smooth deliveries of the babies while reminding the midwives of their roles as they are the very first people who touch the newborn babies.