Health Ministry looking to improve services

Fiji’s Ministry of Health is committed to break barriers in improving and providing better health care services in the country.

This follows the success of a joint partnership between the Sahyadri Hospital and the ministry in conducting knee and hip replacements operations in the country.

In his farewell speech, Minister of Health, Dr Neil Sharma commended the medical team from India.

 “This (venture) is a new move by Government and we are grateful for your persistence, your support and ensuring that this service is available locally,” he said in a statement.

He also said they have “identified areas that need improvement, one of which is for patients to manage their weight before undergoing the screening processes and having dedicated registrars to better coordinate such exercises”.  

He adds the ministry will need to improve on these areas for future engagements and advice patients in advance on how to prepare for such operations.

 Meanwhile the head of the visiting surgical team, Sushrut Badve called for more awareness programs in the country adding that patients need to understand more about hip replacements and operations.

“We need to better educate patients more on new systems to avoid such challenges however it takes time to digest new concepts,” he said.

The Sahyadri surgical team screened 160 patients and operated on seven patients.

They were farewelled today by the Minsitry of Health.

FijiLive