Category Public Advisory

Senior citizens honoured

Senior members of the Dudley Methodist Church were honoured for their dedicated services in a special function organised by the church on Saturday.

This is part of the annual Senior Citizens Day observed by the church in recognition of its members’ selfless services to act as role models for the upcoming generation.

Senior citizens are often neglected by society and even their close families, and can be seen as a burden.

While officiating the program, the Hon. Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar paid tribute to the senior citizens for their valuable contributions in moulding the younger generation to success in their life.

“I salute the senior citizens who through hard work and enthusiasm have developed a more meaningful platform for success for the upcoming generations”, Mrs Bhatnagar said.

Mrs Bhatnagar also reiterated the Government’s recent announcement to address the basic needs of the people so they could enjoy the low prices of daily consumable goods and services.

Some of these strategies include the reduction of the pension scheme to 66 years, the reduction of vat to 9% and the increased free medicines list to 142 items.

Meanwhile, the president of the church Mrs Elizabeth Dass has called on people to respect and care for elders, as they have sacrificed a lot to put them where they are today.

Madam Bhatnagar reminds people to care for their health.

The Assistant Minister for Health and Medical services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar reminded people to pay special attention to their health this festive season of Diwali.

Mrs Bhatnagar said that people tend to forget the consequences of consuming foods rich in fat and substances that pose a threat to their health, and often end up with abnormal conditions which require medical attention.

“I am not stopping you from eating, but you must eat in moderate amounts so that it doesn’t affect your health”, said Mrs Bhatnagar.

Foods served at the festival of Diwali tend to be cooked in high amounts of oil, which is unhealthy.

People often neglect the advice from health authorities on consuming healthy foods and end up with complications that contribute to ever escalating non-communicable diseases in the country.

While the festivities should be celebrated, a good diet and daily physical activity is the perfect recipe for a healthy life.

Mrs Bhatnagar was speaking at the inaugural Diwali Mela organised by the Ekta Saraswati Mahila Mandal in Cuvu, Nadroga.

Assistant Health Minister visits Yasawas.

The Hon. Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar visited the Yasawa –i-rara nursing station last week to assess the provision of health services on the outer island.

The Health Ministry has plans to visit all health facilities around the country to gauge the health services provided and the issues affecting the provision of services.

Proving medical services on remote islands is very challenging and costly as the population is scattered with no roads, with health staff mostly reaching patients on foot.

Mrs Bhatnagar was informed by the staff nurse on the island of the difficulties staff faced to adequately serve these populations, such as travelling by boat to attend to emergencies, which becomes very expensive.

Madam Bhatnagar assured the staff that their grievances will be considered by the Ministry and the issues will definitely be addressed upon the availability of resources.

“I will look into the issues and will see that they are addressed as we do not want to deny people the best medical services available”, Mrs Bhatnagar said.

Madam Assistant Minister thanked the staff for the services rendered, despite the very challenging environment and hard-to-reach population.

Meanwhile, the Ministry will continue to visit the health facilities and address the increasing demand for medical services around the country.

Specialised Eye care treatment for Nadroga citizens.

More than 700 people in Nadroga have received specialised eye care treatment from the visiting Benevolent Mission International (BMI) medical team from Houston, Texas, USA.

The 18 member team has been visiting Fiji annually since 2003, and have provided treatment to approximately 50 people each visit.

The eye services range from cataract operations, pteryguin, to dispensing reading glasses and sunglasses. Each patient is treated according to their medical circumstances.

Marica Ratubuli, the eye nurse in charge of the Eye Clinic at Sigatoka Hospital, said that she identifies patients through eye outreach programmes and provides referrals to the visiting medical team.

“I normally visit the patients in my outreach programmes in the Nadroga/Navosa province, and make referrals to the visiting eye team”, said Ms Ratubuli.

This volunteer work by the visiting BMI team was applauded by the Hon. Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Mrs Veena Bhatnagar while visiting the team yesterday.

“I am very happy and thankful to all of you for the wonderful services you have been providing to our people, and the best part of it is the services are free”, Mrs Bhatnagar said.

“This had brought much relief to the financially burdened people who will now have their vision restored through your efforts”.

The team completed this year’s tour with the last 6 patients treated yesterday, and will fly out of the country on Sunday.

MANUAL TO STRENGTHEN MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES

Maternal health remains one of the key priorities and is one of two strategic pillars which focuses on the delivery of health services in the National Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

This was highlighted by the Minister for Health and Medical Services Hon. Jone Usamate at the launch of the “Infection Prevention and Control in Maternity Units’ Training Manual” at CWMH in Suva today.

“Based on released World Health Organisation international data, there has been a 50 percent reduction in maternal deaths from preventable causes in 2015 compared to that in 1990” (63/100,000 in 1990 and 30/100, 000 in 2015), Minister Usamate said.

“There was also a decreasing trend at 5 year intervals during that 25 year period, however the reduction fell short of our expectations.”

Minister Usamate added that the Ministry aimed for a 75 percent reduction at least, and continued to focus on maternal health.

“Last year our maternal mortality rate was 44.4 per 100,000 births. The major causes of maternal deaths in Fiji; haemorrhage, sepsis and infection, hypertensive disorders and abortion with other causes”.

“We continue to put in place strategies to ensure that mothers receive quality care and prevent any maternal deaths, and we thank the Australian government through the Fiji Health Sector Support Program for supporting us in our efforts.”

Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Steven Ciobo commended the Fijian government for prioritising health care, in particular maternal health.

“This manual timely and the associated programs linked to it will make maternal services safer,” Minister Ciobo said.

The manual will be able to train doctors, nurses and midwifes to prevent and reduce infections in maternity facilities.