Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma is confident and determined on the progress and innovative approaches taken to address Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) in Fiji.
Work on RHD has been ongoing since 2005 and support from the private sector has boosted and improved the entire spectrum of healthcare.
“Health (Ministry) has benefitted from the social corporate responsibility of the private sector which is evident from the collaboration with the Rotary Club of Suva and the Ministry of Education in raising awareness on RHD,” Dr Sharma said.
“A sustainable partnership in health service delivery assists in improving access to secondary and tertiary levels of care.”
RHD is an area of concern as prevalence has been found in children between the ages of 4-19. To address child mortality, the Health Ministry and the Government over the past five years has developed programs to address and reduce the rates of child mortality.
For instance in primary health care, antenatal nutrition has been focused on, with the provision of food vouchers, iron and folic acid supplementation, addressing child nutrition through the NIMS and Vita-meal program.
The Ministry has now in place an evolving Challenged Child concept, school health and oral health screenings and revitalization of Community Health Worker Schemes. While in secondary health care, pediatric and medical outreach programs have been further extended.
“We have taken a step further in tertiary health care with the availability of surgeries conducted locally and with patients being referred for specialist treatment abroad. Vodafone Foundation has been supportive in sending children for complex surgery to India”, Dr Sharma added.
To further strengthen this area of concern, research and training has been ongoing since 2008. Nurses have been trained to conduct cardiac ultrasound in children for early detection of RHD.
Meanwhile Dr Sharma recently undertook a presentation at the World Heart Federation (WHF) held in Melbourne Australia on Fiji’s experience on Private/Public Partnership in Rheumatic Heart Disease.
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