Health professionals need to seriously consider their own health if they are going to address the country's wider health challenges because some health professionals themselves are dying young due to NCDs and obesity.
That is the stern message from former Dean and Professor of Surgery at the FNU College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Professor Eddie McCaig during the Fiji Medical Association Conference.
He says he used to see a lot of young police officers dying, and now a lot of health professionals are dying young.
Professor McCaig says consideration should also be given to failure rates within medical schools and whether students are being adequately prepared before graduating.
Aspen Medical Hospital General Manager Dr Rigamoto Taito says health workers continue to turn up every day and do their best to save lives despite the many challenges they face, therefore more needs to be done to value and support them.
She says while discussions around the health workforce often focus on salaries, pay is not the only issue that needs attention.
Dr Taito says the conditions in which health workers work and live must also be addressed, adding that Fiji needs to do better in looking after its health workforce.
Deputy Dean for UPSM Dr Samuela Korovou says strengthening primary healthcare should be a major part of reforming Fiji’s health system because people are still dying early as NCDs continue to rise and infectious diseases remain a challenge.
He says Fiji cannot continue with the same approach outlined in previous strategic plans, and there needs to be greater focus on turning plans into action and achieving measurable outcomes.
He says Fiji also needs to consider a quota system for medical training, particularly in relation to the employability of graduates.
Korovou also adds there is a need to look at curricula and ensure competencies are being met so that institutions are producing competent doctors.
Meanwhile, Acting Permanent Secretary for Health Luisa Cikamatana stressed that there is a lot of work to be done, but greater discipline is needed in implementing what the Ministry is supposed to deliver.
She says health professionals need to look after their own health, saying they cannot effectively help patients if they themselves are unhealthy.
She adds there are workforce and budget management challenges within the Ministry of Health as well, and workforce planning needs to be linked directly to the health services being provided, including determining what services are required, how many workers are needed and what supplies and other resources are required to support them.
Cikamatana says the Ministry is also looking at working conditions, beginning with nurses, but they ultimately need to assess the entire health workforce.
