MHMS FIJI
MHMS FIJI

Tag Minister for Health speeches

Official Remarks at the Opening of the 2025 Science, Technology and Resources (STAR) Conference

Honorable Dr. Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu

Event:     Official Remarks at the Opening of the 2025 Science, Technology and Resources (STAR) Conference

Venue:     Holiday Inn, Suva

Date:       Monday 24th November 2025

Time:      09.30am

Salutation:

  • The Chair of STAR, Permanent Secretary for Lands and Mineral Resources, Mr Paula Cirikiyasawa
  • Representatives of the Government of Fiji
  • Delegates from the Pacific Community
  • Representatives of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
  • Members of the Circum-Pacific Council
  • Partners from universities, research institutions and development organisations
  • Invited Guests
  • Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my honour to welcome you to the STAR 2025 Conference. For our guests from the Pasifika and those that travelled across the globe to be here this morning, bula vina’a, welcome again to your island home, Fiji.

This gathering brings together the people who have supported this network through its early work, its challenges, and its return to active meetings. Your presence reflects the strength of the Science, Technology and Resources Network and the significant role it continues to play across our region.

Ladies & Gentlemen, when STAR was formed in 1984 through the collaboration of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the objective was to create a forum where scientific work could be aligned with Pacific developmental priorities.

For almost 30 years, STAR met annually and contributed to research, cooperation and practical solutions across the region. These meetings built working relationships that helped countries through periods of change, turbulence and uncertainty.

STAR hibernated after 2010 and slowed progress even though its value remained clear to many partners. Renewed interest saw STAR dominating the essence of discussions at the Regional Geoscience Steering Group Meeting in April 2015 confirming the regional interest to restore the network and “make it fit for purpose”. The subsequent meeting in Nadi in June 2016 marked that warranted return. Further meetings, including the virtual session during COVID-19, showed the commitment of individuals and institutions to maintain STAR’s presence.

For me personally, for any professional network to thrive, it must be relevant, dynamic to navigate the global headwinds and build in-depth capacity for sustainability.

Across the Pacific, there is strong support for STAR to continue. Countries have highlighted the importance of this forum in rebuilding partnerships and peer exchanges suitable for the Pacific context. Discussions have also focused on strengthening STAR’s administrative and financial independence.

This year’s conference, hosted by Fiji with support from the mining, exploration and quarries sector, is centred on the theme “Connecting the Pacific Islands Through Science and Technology.” This theme reflects our shared direction. Science and technology support learning, inform planning and deepens understanding of our environment. They also strengthen cooperation between countries. Each nation brings experience that contributes to regional progress, and each benefit from shared knowledge.

We acknowledge the Circum-Pacific Council for the special session on Urban Sea Systems, and the University of Queensland, the Pacific Community and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) for the session on Mineral Security in the Pacific.

The conference materials booklet contains abstracts that reflect the range of work being presented this week. Over the next five days here at the Holiday Inn in Suva, you will hear from scientists, practitioners and partners who continue to expand the knowledge reservoir supporting the evolution of science-policy interface in the Pacific.

The Day Field Trip on Maritime and Coastal Infrastructure in the Suva Area will take participants from Waiqanake to the Kinoya Outfall. This visit will highlight significant elements of our maritime environment and the infrastructure that supports our future needs. It will also provide an opportunity for informal exchange.

The STAR Steering Committee has prepared a programme and field trip that support practical learning and encourage future cooperation. Again, I would like to reiterate the Fiji Government’s support and its continued commitment to host the STAR 2025 Conference, but also in years to come.

As we begin this programme, I encourage all participants to engage fully and contribute openly.

STAR has shown its value during different periods of regional change. With sustained effort, it will remain a forum that supports scientific advancement and informed decision-making for the benefit of our communities.

Thank you for being here. I wish you a productive week and look forward to the outcomes of your discussions.

Thank you and Vinaka vakalevu.

Closing Remarks at the Antimicrobial Awareness Week

Honorable dr Ratu Atonio Rabici Lalabalavu

Event:    Closing Remarks at the Antimicrobial Awareness Week

Venue:     FPBS

Date:      Monday 24th November 2025

Time:     08.15am – 09.15am

Salutation:
• Dr. Mark Jacobs, The Director of Pacific Technical Support and WHO Representative to the South Pacific
• Senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services
• Our technical officers, clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory professionals
• Representatives from partner agencies and institutions
• Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

A very good morning to you all.

It is my privilege to join you today as we gather to conclude the 2025 Antimicrobial Awareness Week with this Workshop for the Central Division, under the theme “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together”. This gathering brings together an impressive and diverse team — of clinicians like Dr. Ravi, nurse and EPI National Coordinator Sister Litiana, our laboratory experts, IPC officers, veterinary professionals such as Dr. Magiri, representatives from Oceania Hospital, the FCGP, and many others who are committed to safeguarding Fiji’s health system. Your presence reflects a shared commitment to confronting one of most urgent health threats of our time: antimicrobial resistance, or AMR.

Every year, this week serves as a powerful reminder that antibiotics and other antimicrobials are among the most valuable tools in modern medicine. Yet today, they are under threat. As we have heard repeatedly from the World Health Organization and from our own data, antimicrobial resistance compromises our ability to treat common infections, increases the risk of complications and mortality, and places significant strain on our hospitals, our families, and our economy.

AMR isaffecting patient outcomes across our facilities. We hear stories of resistance patterns, treatment failures, delayed recoveries and infections that no longer respond to first-line medicines. These are early warnings we cannot ignore.

Our national efforts are anchored in the National AMR Action Plan, which calls for stronger stewardship, improved surveillance, robust infection prevention and control, and a One Health approach across human, animal, and environmental sectors. The work of our clinicians, pharmacists, laboratory officers, environmental health teams and veterinary colleagues all connects to this shared mission. A mission that is reflected in today’s workshop through presentations on antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and control, vaccination, AMR surveillance, genome sequencing, animal health updates, and research from our own facilities. We are strengthening the expertise that drives this action plan forward. This is not the end of our efforts and work must continue beyond this week — every day, in every facility, in every department.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is simply a reminder. The real change happens throughout the year — through careful prescribing, proper dispensing, good hygiene, appropriate diagnostics, consistent hand washing, and strong infection control practices. It happens when clinicians follow the national antibiotic guidelines, when laboratories strengthen surveillance, when pharmacists promote rational use, when veterinarians and agricultural partners ensure responsible use in animals, and when community members understand the risks of misuse.

I want to commend all of you who continue to champion these efforts, especially those who have contributed to research and training this week — from enhancing blood culture collection practices to strengthening stewardship programs and IPC standards. Your work saves lives.

I would also like to acknowledge our long-standing partnership with the World Health Organization, particularly the guidance and technical support from Dr. Mark Jacobs and the WHO Pacific team. Fiji is stronger because of your collaboration.

As we carry today’s discussions into our respective workplaces, I urge each of you to remain dedicated to the principles of stewardship and prevention. AMR is a challenge we cannot defeat through awareness week alone — it demands ongoing commitment, accountability, and collaboration. Let us all leave here with renewed determination to protect the effectiveness of antimicrobials, safeguard our health system, and secure a healthier future for all Fijians.

With these words, I officially close the 2025 Antimicrobial Awareness Week with this Workshop.

I wish you a productive and impactful session ahead.

Vinaka vakalevu.