Mollyn Nakabea 
[Photo: MOLLYN NAKABEA]
The Ministry of Health will procure additional equipment with a $4.6m grant from the Japanese government’s Economic and Social Development Programme.
This assistance will benefit patients while supporting medical staff through enhanced training and capacity building.
Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu says t¤he grant aid will allow the Ministry to take its services to the people.
“This grant will help us overcome geographical barriers to health care by funding two important mobile health units, a mobile dental truck, which will take preventative care, screenings and essential dental treatment to students and communities in the rural and remote areas, which addresses a very serious problem in our health services. And the mobile health clinic, which will assist the delivery of health care services closer to where the people live.”
Dr Lalabalavu highlighted that a substantial portion of the grant will be used to strengthen the training of Fiji’s future nurses and doctors.
“We have adult ventilator training models, which will ensure our medical staff are competent and confident in life-saving respiratory support before they even step into the intensive care unit. And we have the integrity of the virtual life-section team, which will give our medical trainees and nurses a lot of platforms to study human anatomy, moving beyond traditional methods and deepening their understanding. This is very much a movement in a new direction, away from cannabis, which we used to treat.”
Furthermore, the Ministry is committed to integrating the equipment’s operational and maintenance costs into our annual budget, ensuring this investment remains sustainable and provides lasting benefits to the people of Fiji.
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