The Chairman of the Board of Director of the PSH Foundation

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Parvish Kumar

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen
 

I am extremely delighted to officiate at the launch of the Pacific Specialist Healthcare Foundation here in Nadi.
 

I wish to commend Pacific Specialist Healthcare for its contribution to elevating the quality of health services in Fiji. The hospital’s strategic location near the international airport makes it convenient for medical tourists, and retirees, enhancing Fiji’s reputation as a destination with comprehensive medical facilities.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Pacific Specialist Healthcare has brought much pride to all citizens of Fiji, as a cutting-edge health care facility with Fiji’s largest state-of-the-art 130-bed specialty private hospital. Since its inception in 2016, the Pacific Specialist Healthcare has been making significant achievements, delivering essential primary care services including low-cost GP consultations, routine diagnostic tests like ECGs, chest X-rays, and full blood counts, as well as preventive health screenings. In addition, PSH offers a range of surgical specialties, including obstetrics and gynaecology, urology, plastic surgery, and orthopaedics.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am informed that the Pacific Specialist Healthcare has successfully commissioned a multi-million-dollar cardiology department and operations theatre and is already managing complex surgeries like brain tumour operations. The Foundation also aims to provide free or heavily subsidised complex medical procedures for the “Poorest of the Poor” in Fiji and across the Pacific. This state-of-the-art hospital is also planning to bring radiotherapy treatment to Fiji for cancer patients so that thousands of precious lives are saved. Ladies and gentlemen, according to the World health Organization cancer is responsible for 11% of total deaths in Fiji, and of this amount, around 30% of all cancer deaths are attributable to lifestyle factors. The Ministry of Health estimates that more than 1,400 cases of cancer are diagnosed in Fiji each year and it remains one of the top five causes of death. The new planned radiotherapy treatment planned by the Pacific Specialist Healthcare will help to treat Fiji’s cancer patients and avoid patients having to spend astronomical amounts of money to be treated overseas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am extremely proud of the approach the Pacific Specialist Healthcare had taken in engaging proactively with our local stakeholders including the participation of our community leaders in Fiji and the Pacific. This manifests the organizations respect for Chiefs and leaders of our communities. I am pleased that they have successfully entered into a mutual partnership agreement with the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) which represents the wellbeing of all iTaukei and Rotuman communities, and formed positive relationships with religious organisations like Shree Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji (SSDPSF), Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji (APSF), Fiji Muslim League (FML) and the Fiji Council of Churches (FCC) to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable to the masses. More active engagement with the community and increased marketing will certainly contribute to the growth of Pacific Specialist Healthcare services in Fiji.
 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand that the organization has made a strong commitment to providing GP consultation fee of only $7.50 per visit to access world-class medical services at discounted rates and easy payment options to the faith-based and cultural organisations including their members which is indeed highly commendable. For our senior citizens that are above the age of 65 years, GP consultations are provided by the Hospital free of charge. This certainly reinforces the Pacific Specialist Healthcare’s belief that quality healthcare should be accessible to everyone regardless of background or income, and I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments shared by the CEO that quality healthcare is a right, not a luxury. I urge our people in the Western Division and our people throughout Fiji to visit this new Hospital and enquire about the type of health and specialized medical services you need.

Ladies and gentlemen, a major testament to the Pacific Specialist Healthcare’s professionalism, dedication and commitment, is their role in capacity building and training Pacific doctors is an additional benefit, promoting regional cooperation and contributing to the advancement of Fiji’s medical infrastructure. Furthermore, expansion plans are earmarked beyond Fiji by establishing similar clinics across the Pacific region, extending its impact and services to a wider population.
 

Ladies and gentlemen, next month I will be announcing Government’s 2025/2026 national Budget in Parliament. One of the Budget’s key priorities is our health sector. Like the Pacific Specialist Healthcare, the Government of Fiji has an obligation to provide public health service to the people, but as a public good. Over the past 2 years, we have been consistently setting aside funds to renovate our rural public health infrastructure, and more resources will be required for this purpose in years to come. As I have mentioned on many occasions, we have a huge infrastructure deficit to address.
 

Ladies and gentlemen, Government is committed to improving the standard of our health care facilities and taking care of the welfare of our doctors and nurses, as this will only contribute to improving the quality of our health services that our people deserve. We will also be reviewing restrictions of importing drugs directly from India, as this will not only reduce landed cost, but it will ensure the timely delivery of much needed drugs and medical supplies to many of our hospitals and rural health centres.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk briefly on the alarming cases of NCDs, as it accounts for 80 percent of the deaths in our country - cardiovascular disease (heart disease such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, respiratory disease, and diabetes. It is a ticking time bomb for our country. Each year, we see young highly educated people at the helm of their careers between the ages of 30 to 55 dying prematurely due to NCDs. This is the most productive age group in any economy. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to caution that our country’s productivity and economy is under threat if we lose more of our productive population to NCDs.
 

I wish to highlight that building a healthy population is fundamental to our economic growth. It is the Coalition Government’s responsibility to address the problem of NCDs head on, and to ensure that every citizen has access to a full range of quality health services when and where our people need them, without financial hardship. Our Goal for the health sector in our National Development Plan 2005-2029 is ‘modernising Fiji’s healthcare system to reduce disease incidence and enhance service quality’. We will be prioritizing funding in the national Budget to resourcing our primary and preventative heath care, curative services, specialised services and public health services and ensuring the timely availability of medical products. We are also looking at efforts to improve service delivery by reducing patient waiting time, enhancing hospital services, increasing the number of hospital beds and improving ambulance services. There is also a need for more equitable geographic distribution of doctors, particularly in Rural and Maritime Areas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Government has indicated on many occasions that it welcomes a partnership approach with the private sector towards the delivery of health services to our people. I am pleased indeed that the Pacific Specialist Healthcare had taken steps to build and operate Fiji’s largest state-of-the-art 130-bed specialty private hospital. I look forward to discussing with the executives of the hospital on the additional assistance or support that it needs from Government, to ensure it expands its services in Fiji and the region.
 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I once again applaud the Pacific Specialist Healthcare for committing to provide heavily subsidised complex medical procedures for the “Poorest of the Poor” in Fiji and across the Pacific. This is a highly unprecedented and momentous achievement for the shareholders and owners of PSH and its philanthropic Foundation. The Foundation will in time have influential board members from each of the Pacific Island countries, extending their services to the greater Pacific community and contributing towards Government’s vision of Fiji – “The Hub of the Pacific”. 
 

I wish you all well, and thank the organizers for inviting me to this prestigious

event.

Thank you.