Fiji’s Minister for Health Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete reiterated the importance of raising basic sanitation levels, in light of increasing leptospirosis cases and deaths, during his visit this week to Vanua Levu where he also revealed plans to construct a new health centre in Dreketi and the extension of the Savusavu Hospital.
In an update two days ago, the Ministry of Health reported nearly 600 cases and 23 deaths including children, with an 8-year-old boy from Navua among the latest fatalities.
“It is important that we are focusing on Leptospirosis, Typhoid, and Dengue (LTD) because LTDs have caused the deaths of our young people. Though we also focus on non-communicable diseases, we realise that most of those people have them in their forties and fifties while people as young as infants have died from these diseases,” Dr Waqainabete said.
“The overall objective of these projects is to raise the basic sanitation level of our communities and villages to a standard where we can prevent diseases from happening.”
So far, a total of 560 field latrines have been installed in villages and settlements in Vanua Levu – 250 in Macuata, 120 in Bua, and 190 in Cakaudrove. Eight communities were also assisted with water to ensure better water supply and prevent disease outbreaks including typhoid and other water-borne diseases.
In an update two days ago, the Ministry of Health reported nearly 600 cases and 23 deaths including children, with an 8-year-old boy from Navua among the latest fatalities. Since the outbreak in January, there have been 122 cases reported in the North, with 26 requiring hospitalisation, and three have died. Of the total cases in the North, 95 percent were recorded in Macuata, two percent in Cakaudrove, and one percent in Taveuni.
Dr Waqainabete also told villagers to expect more of such visits by health officials to resume and pick up this year as restrictions brought on by COVID-19 are easing.
“The thing about our health centres and divisional hospitals is that we have to be proactive. We have to go out to the communities and find the sources of diseases and work with the community to control the source.”
In terms of infrastructure development, Dr Waqainabete talked about building a new structure “within the next two to three years” to house the Dreketi Health Centre which has been relocated to government quarters across the road.
Savusavu Hospital he says will be extended and staffed so the people of Cakaudrove can now access services previously only available at the Labasa Hospital.
“The specialist doctors at the Labasa Hospital have been requested to resume their programme of conducting clinics and other services at the Savusavu Hospital and this will also be extended to the Saqani Health Centre to cater for the villages in the Tikina Saqani, Tawake and Navatu.”
Photo: MOH
