Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho says the institution is losing more than 10 police officers annually to Non-Communicable Diseases.

In a statement released late yesterday afternoon, the Commissioner also clarified the circumstances surrounding the death of a senior police officer who died while undergoing the Required Fitness Level test at the Nasese foreshore in Suva.

Commissioner Qiliho while confirming the passing of a senior officer, also refuted claims that the Police force did not have their own medical team on site at the RFL test.

He explains that the senior officer was taking part in the 2.4km run when he collapsed upon nearing the end of the route.

The training instructors on site rushed the officer in a Fiji Corrections Service vehicle that was parked close by.

A team he says from the Force’s Medical Unit were on site in a fully equipped ambulance, however the Medics were at the start of the 2.4km route when tragedy struck, and as the Corrections vehicle was nearer to where the incident occurred, officers acted immediately and enlisted the help of the nearest vehicle owner to rush the late officer to hospital.

Attempts to revive him however at the hospital were futile.

Meanwhile, another police officer who was admitted to hospital prior also passed away yesterday.

The RFL tests the Commissioner says are not new to the institution and have been enforced over the last ten years and in which time there have been very few police deaths.

These tests he says is proving to be even more crucial with NCD’s a growing threat to police officers.

The Commissioner says, within the first two months of this year, seven deaths have already been recorded, five of which were directly linked to NCD’s.

The unfortunate deaths of two senior police officers yesterday he says are also suspected to be NCD related.

For the periods from 2016 to 2018, 48 police deaths were recorded, and from this figure, 43 deaths were directly linked to NCD’s.

NCD’s Qiliho says is becoming a real threat to the force which is why he will continue conducting the RFL tests and the mandatory health audits within the institution if it leads to a healthier Police Force.