Taking a lead role in reducing Non-Communicable diseases, the Fiji National University plans to build a new sports complex in Nasinu.

FNU Vice-Chancellor Nigel Healey says the new complex is not designed for elite sports people.

“It’s designed primarily for recreational sports and exercise use by staff and students to start changing lifestyles in Fiji. We have 20, 000 students, so I’ve done the calculation over the next 10 years, we’ll probably graduate 70, 000 people. Now those 70, 000 people have been able to change their lifestyle. When they get to their 30s and 40s, if they continue to play recreational sports and exercise regularly, you make a real impact on the way society evolves.”

Healey says in 2017, they agreed that medical students would do a free health screening yearly for all their 2,500 staff.

He says as the national university, they have a huge role in taking leadership in reducing NCDs.