The Health Ministry is excited by data that indicates that Fijians are living longer.

This has been confirmed to FBC News by Advisor for Non Communicable Diseases Dr Isimeli Tukana.

The Ministry has been able to improve the age of premature death from sixty to seventy years.

Dr Tukana says sixty years used to be the cut off mark as only fifteen percent of Fijians lived past their fifties.

“Now we’ve found that at the end of 2015 that a significant number are dying between 60 and 70 so we’re able to shift up so people are living longer but they need to live healthier the last thing we want is living long and sickly we want to live long and live healthy. One things is to live long and it’s a good sign because Fiji’s life expectancy is less than 7 so from both angles its less than 70 so what Ministry of Health and government is trying to do is not only add years to life but add life to the years.”

According to global figures, the average life expectancy at birth was 71 years – 68.5 years for males and 73.5 years for females over the period 2010-2013.

Dr Tukana says Fiji’s target is a quality life for all Fijians even past the age of seventy.

WHO has ranked Fiji 119th on the list of the long life expectancy while the UN has ranked us 121st out of 198 countries.