The Australian and New Zealand Medical Assistance Team currently in the country will be assisting the Ministry of Health.

They will be providing public health policy advice for both the Central and Western Division.

Mission Team Leader Dan Holmes says they also aim to assist the Ministry in managing Fiji’s Health care system and ensure effective hospital set-ups to cater for the growing number of patients.

“We’ve also been able to give some advice to the Department of Foreign Affairs and High Commission from Australia in order to get some equipment and what i think is vital for Fiji as it manages COVID. There’s been some quite complex equipment that we’ve got but we’ve also arranged for oxygen and making sure that it can get through the system. So there’s a lot of work in that area to ensure that Fiji is prepared.”

Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete says Fiji’s healthcare system has been stretched and they have sort assistance from the Fiji National University.

“We’ve asked them to have some of their final year student doctors help us with the backhand data processing.”

The ANZMAT Team leader says, together with the Ministry they will explore ways to ease the burden in managing hospitals.
The team from Australia and New Zealand will also provide assistance in ensuring that patients are cared for at the same time working towards minimizing the spread of COVID-19.

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