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Community Joins Walk

Last Saturday, the Westpac Bank and Ministry of Health & Medical Services hosted the first Westpac Walk of the year. Participants included Corrections, FNU, and the Flying Fijians 15s Team.

Students and faculty from Fiji National University hosted the warm up, shared the benefits of exercise, and explained how to determine if one is at risk of NCD’s using body measurements.

“To determine if you are at risk of cardiovascular illnesses, divide your height by the circumference of your waist. For men, the ratio should be within 1 cm, for women, the ratio should be within .8 cm” cautioned Dr Akinremi of FNU.

In the past, the Westpac Walk was each quarter, but now they will be hosted every trimester. The event is free of charge. Keep an eye out for the next Westpac walk near you!

People continue to support Fight the Bite – Clean up Fiji campaign

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has received positive feedback from communities and organizations around the country as they participate in “Fight the Bite – Clean Up Fiji” campaign.

The campaign is in its third week of implementation since the roll out on the 16^th of May 2016.

Destruction of Mosquito breeding places is the primary objective of this campaign with the target to reduce mosquito densities and ultimately minimize the spread of diseases such as Dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika.

There are now 17 confirmed Zika cases and 24 confirmed Chikungunya cases and additional samples have been sent for testing.

The Minister for Health & Medical Services Hon. Jone Usamate said that these mosquito-borne diseases can be reduced if we all work together as a community to eliminate mosquito breeding places. The Minister has called all of Government departments, the Municipalities, the community groups and partners to join in the clean-up campaign.

“When you clean up, you are helping yourselves, your families and your neighbors to be protected from mosquito-borne diseases, Mosquitoes does not discriminate and it needs to have its meal from human blood therefore anyone can be bitten.” Mr Usamate said.

Our health teams have commenced spraying in urban and rural areas throughout the country and to date Labasa, Lami, and Taveuni have recorded 100% coverage while other divisions are almost achieving their targets.

It is expected that all areas will be covered over the next few weeks as we approach the completion of the campaign. However, localized and focused spraying will continue at areas identified through surveillance to have persistently high mosquito densities.

The Health Ministry advocates and encourage the people of Fiji to keep their surroundings clean and free of mosquito breeding containers for everyone to live in a mosquito disease-free environment.

EXTENSION OF NASEA HEALTH CENTRE, MACUATA, NORTHERN DIVISION

The people of Maucata Subdivision will now have better access to health care with the extension of Nasea Health Centre in Labasa Town. This subdivision was selected for expansion due to the high population (70,000 people) and subsequent demand for medical services.

The extension has provided more space for services such general outpatients, special outpatients and pharmaceutical services. The Health Centre sees between 200-300 patients per day while it also shares the workload of Labasa Hospital special outpatients services.

Plans are under way to introduce the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) clinic for children under 5 years, which will reduce patient transfer from one building to another and be more convenient for patients.

The Minister for Health and Medical Services Mr Jone Usamate visited the Health Centre yesterday, where he was briefed on the services available. Mr Usamate was impressed with the well-thought idea of centralising the medical services for the comfort of patients.

“I applaud the efforts of the health team here in the North to improve the quality of the services as we must be mindful of the needs of the people and provide the best health services,” Mr Usamate said.

The Ministry of Health remains committed to providing an affordable, equitable and accessible health care service to all the citizens of Fiji.

Mr Usamate visits Health Facilities in the North

The Hon. Minister for Health and Medical Services Mr Jone Usamate this week visited health facilities in the North, particularly in rural areas including Nakorovatu Health Centre, Kubulau Nursing Station, Wainunu Health Centre and Nabouwalu Hospital.

The above health facilities had sustained damage during TC Winston, and this was an opportunity to review the current provision of health services after rehabilitation work was conducted by the Government.

On the visit Mr Usamate was informed that the quick response from the government and donor agencies has helped to reshape the health centres, and although minor issues persist, the Ministry continues to explore various means to address them.

While meeting the staff and patients, Mr Usamate reassured them that the Ministry will look at the shortcomings, and that it had been working tirelessly with the available resources to address concerns.

“We are constantly monitoring the provision of the health services around the country and we will certainly work closely with the respective departments to normalize the services at these health facilities,” Mr Usamate said.

He also thanked the staff for doing their best to provide health care services for the benefit of the society as a whole.

New degree program for nurses

The introduction of the new nursing science degree program is yet another milestone achievement for the nursing fraternity in Fiji.

This was revealed by the Hon. Minister for Health and Medical Services Mr Jone Usamate at the launch of the new curriculum at the TISI Sangam school of Nursing in Labasa.

Nurses in Fiji will now acquire a three year degree, compared to the diploma program that was offered at the Sangam School of Nursing and the Fiji National University prior to the introduction of the course at degree level.

Mr Usamate said this will increase the competency and skills of nurses enabling them to broaden their career prospects.

“In line with upgrading the skills and competencies of nurses, the Ministry has been looking at developing specialized nurses and I am sure that through this program that will be accomplished”, Mr Usamate said.

Mr Usamate also emphasized that upgrading nurses’ qualifications remains a priority of the Ministry.

The Chairman of the Acedemic Board of the TISI Sangam School Mr Amraiya Naidu said that they had been working toward this program since 2014.

“It took a lot of consultations and preparatory work to introduce degree-level courses, and I am glad that due to such vigilant planning since 2014, we have been able to facilitate such a program.” Mr Naidu added.

Meanwhile, college director Eleni Kata said more than 60 nurses had already enrolled in the program and were expected to graduate next year.