The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted its second joint coordinating committee meeting at Tanoa Plaza today.
The meeting was on the project for strengthening the ‘need-based in-service training’ for community health nurses in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.
In-service training aims to improve the capacity of workers in order to improve the quality and efficiency of their assigned work.
In May 2003, at the third Pacific Island Nations Summit in Okinawa, appeals were made through the Okinawa Initiative on the importance of community development strategies for further enrichment and safer Pacific Island Nations.
The 'Okinawa Initiative' reflects a commitment by the Japanese Government towards health sectors across Pacific Island Nations. This includes the ‘Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI)’, Non- Communicable Diseases (NCD) and Communicable Diseases.
The training is a regional project, which will also be implemented in Tonga and Vanuatu in collaboration with the Ministry of Health on a budget of US$5million for the three countries.
The Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr Salanieta Saketa said the ministry would take the lead role in providing technical advice to regional counterparts –Tonga and Vanuatu.
Since the start of the project in October 2010 in Fiji a number of activities have been carried out:
· Baseline survey conducted from December 2010 to February 2011 and based on the results, recommendations were made to review the project design
· Training of trainers for supervision and coaching was conducted and divisional training planned to be conducted from July 2011.
· The mid-level nursing management course to be provided in Fiji School of Nursing was outlined
· Health officials dispatched to Vanuatu to share experiences in the development of the need-based in-service training (NB-IST)
In Fiji the project aims to adapt the model of the need-based in-service training in the Central Division on a national scale while Tonga and Vanuatu will use the model as a pilot project.
The meeting shared results of the baseline survey in Fiji and reviewed the progress of the work plan.
The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Health, Fiji National University as well as JICA .