Category Public Advisory

Labasa hospital observes world Pharmacists Day.

The health staff at Labasa hospital celebrated the World Pharmacists Day at the Labasa Hospital last week.

This special day, now in its fifth year, was established by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), and the global federation of national associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, which is in official relations with the World Health Organization.

Curahealth pharmacy offers everything from vitamins to medications. They can delight you with a wide range of products and fairly low prices.

The purpose of World Pharmacists Day is to encourage activities that promote and advocate for the role of the pharmacist in improving health in every corner of the world.

This year’s theme developed by FIP, is “Pharmacists: your partners in health”.

The Medical Superintendent of the Labasa hospital Dr Mikaele Mua  has encouraged the public to make use of the pharmacy to be better informed.

“I want to encourage  customers to make use of pharmacies when visiting the hospital to further enhance their knowledge on medicines and treatment”, Dr Mua Said.

Dr Mua added that the health facilities are committed to ensuring appropriate use of medicines which is safe and effective to all the people that they serve.

No shortage of syringes and needles

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services advises the public that there is currently no shortage of needles and syringes at Makoi or any other health centres in Suva.

There are sufficient syringes and needles for nurses to provide injections of vaccine and antibiotics.

Diabetic patients treated with insulin are trained to use syringes and needles for this purpose.

Pharmacists dispense insulin free of charge to patients based on a prescription by the doctor but do not necessarily dispense syringes and needles.

Furthermore, needles and syringes are commonly used by trained Nursing staff to provide medication.

Children who are insulin dependent or young diabetic patients are provided with syringes and needles for their parents to administer medication until adulthood, after some training by doctors/nurses on their proper use and disposal.  Similarly at the Nuffield clinic, according to pharmacists and the medical officer in charge, there is no lack of dressings at the health centre.

Therefore the nurses do not need to ask the patients to bring their own dressings to the clinic although they may ask for the patient to return for further review and dressing as per their doctor’s prescribed order.

Patients often request for a plaster or dressing from the nurses to take home to do their own dressing, but their request may be refused largely because the wound should be reviewed at the health centre to ensure it is healing well.

The Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOHMS) in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) held the first meeting of “Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC)” for “The Project for Prevention and Control of NCDs on 24 September, 2015 at the MOHMS Headquarters.

The aim of the JCC is to discuss the overall perspectives of the project activities during the project period.

The meeting was chaired by the Acting Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr.  Meciusela Tuicakau and attended by core project members from the MOHMS and JICA, and various stakeholders who work in the sector for NCD prevention/control and Wellness, such as DFAT, WHO, FNU, SPC and C-POND.

This project is a five-year technical cooperation launched in May 2015, targeting  personnel engaged in NCD prevention and control at facilities under the MOHMS, such as divisional offices, sub-divisional offices,  health centres and nursing stations in the Central Division.

The project’s purpose is to strengthen evidence-based NCD prevention and control in the Central Division.

Healthy Settings training for Staff in the central Division.

Participants at the training with Trainer Peni Vailave for the World Health Organisation.

Nurses and health inspectors in the Central Division are being trained on the  7D’s for health settings.

This approach to organising health settings involves a 7-step development process: discovery, discussion, dream, direction, design, delivery and driving.

This is a systematic approach to community development which identifies the various issues pertaining to a setting.

The approach is people-focused and process-driven whereby people are involved in discussing, documenting and implementing solutions/action plans that are acceptable to their current and future living conditions.

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services is optimistic that through these trainings, the participants will be able to develop action-oriented plans to address risks in health settings.

Divisional NCD officers will use development processors to facilitate follow-ups on specific activities.

These trainings have been scheduled for all districts while staff from some districts have already completed the trainings.

Issue date: September 8, 2015
Close date: October 30, 2015
Amount of funding available for this proposal invitation cycle:
US$25,000-100,000 per grant; A total of up to US$200,000 to be awarded.
Eligibility:
Funds are to be used for NTD control and elimination programs that address the seven most common NTDs, including ascariasis (roundworm), trichuriasis (whipworm), hookworm, schistosomiasis (snail fever), lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), trachoma and onchocerciasis (river blindness), including:
– Treatment programs: mass drug administration (MDA) and MDA-related activities such as training, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation and educational materials.
– Elimination activities: transmission assessment survey (TAS), MDA and morbidity management/lymphedema care.
Governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are eligible to receive funding from the Global Network, and funds may be channelled through the World Health Organization (WHO) regional or country offices. However, direct government engagement or endorsement of the project through a formal letter is required.
Drug procurement, operational research and research and development (R&D) activities are not eligible for funding.

Priorities:
Global Network will prioritize submissions that meet the following criteria:
– A program in which a grant will make a significant impact on the successful implementation of the project and fill a gap not met by existing funding, or which will help leverage or attract other sources of program funding.
– An integrated MDA program, treating multiple diseases and/or multiple interventions (such as nutrition and water and sanitation programs), whenever possible.
– A program which advances a country’s national NTD control and elimination plan in coordination with the Ministry of Health and/or WHO.
– An implementer with a track record of success in timely completion of the MDA or other NTD treatment activity.
– All project proposals will be considered but priority will go to those carried out in Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, India, Liberia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pacific Islands, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

Requirements:
– Project funds must be expended within 1 year.
– Proposals must be a maximum of 5 pages, including a budget table and references.
– Proposals must list a principal contact, including full name, title, organization, email, phone number and mailing address.
– A detailed budget using the following format is required using USD; Recipient organizations may take overhead at a maximum of 13%.

………………..Full details in this file [Request for NTD Control and Elimination Programs]………………..

Submission Deadline:
All proposals must be submitted electronically to the Global Network by October 30, 2015 at 5:00PM (EDT) to the following email: Kristina.Marchu@sabin.org

This Request for Proposals is also available at: http://www.end7.org/apply-funding

Request for NTD Control and Elimination Programs