Compain campaigns for CWM Maternity Hospital

International Women’s Association President Judy Compain has come out publicly to voice her concerns on issues at the CWM Maternity Hospital that they had identified back in 2018.

Compain says 4 and a half years later, the conditions have worsened.

She further says they were turned away by the former FijiFirst Government after offering their help, and the Ministry said at the time that they were going to undertake renovations and upgrades to the bathrooms.

The Association President adds this was after photos of the bathrooms went viral in 2018 and former Minister for Health Rosy Akbar demanded that the Association remove the photos.

Compain says when IWA refused, the Ministry threw a tantrum and asked them to leave.

The IWA President says four and a half years later, photos taken on 16th January, 2023, will reveal more disgusting, mold-infested and dilapidated bathrooms.

She adds the bathrooms are in a much worse condition than in 2018 and looks like there could be a serious outbreak of infection if there hasn’t already been one.

Compain also says Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, the former Minister for Health is all over social media having a dig and blocking everyone that disagrees with him, while attacking the new Government that has only been in power for less than 1 month, concerned about the floods in Ba and whatever else he thinks is newsworthy. She asks why was he not concerned about the high infection rate among women and new babies and the condition of the bathrooms at the CWM Maternity Hospital.

The Association President asks does this mean he never visited the Maternity Hospital, but he felt it more important to put a massive billboard at the front of the Maternity Hospital.

She asks what for, and does he not realize what that money could have paid for inside the hospital.

Compain is also asking who has the cleaning contract at the hospital, and says whoever they are, they need their contracts cancelled immediately.

The IWA President adds that just mopping floors is not enough as the bathrooms are full of mold, it stinks and looks like they have never been cleaned.

She asks how dare the dignity of women is disrespected and we are subjected to these disgusting, smelly and moldy bathrooms.

The IWA President says women’s health is neglected, women who have just given birth are in an environment that places them at an extremely high risk of getting infections, and no one seems to care.

She asks where are all the organizations that say they are committed to improving the health of Fijians, of women, and the millions of dollars in funding that they receive to improve health in Fiji.

Compain asks do these only go to salaries, benefits, meetings, seminars, and travel.

She adds how can they write reports, recommendations, and proposals when they have not been in our hospitals or seen the state that they are in.

The IWA President asks are you okay with your mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, nieces, granddaughters, colleagues, best friends and loved ones using those bathrooms.

She challenges the corporate organizations to dig deep and work with them to clean up our hospital.

She further says they can organize working groups to clean up the wards and give them a fresh coat of paint.

The IWA President says to let them know if you are a plumber, electrician, tiler, builder, project manager etc who is happy to volunteer.

She says they will need financial support more than anything to undertake this project, as this is not one that they had planned for. Compain says they will do a separate post on the bathrooms at the CWM Children’s Hospital as the IWA project for 2023 was to install hot water there.

She adds after finding the hot water pipes etc and inspecting the bathrooms, they have decided that they cannot just install hot water when the conditions of the bathrooms are appalling, so they will have to undertake a complete upgrade.

Compain says they do not have all the answers but they hope and pray that we can all work together and do something about these bathrooms.

Questions have been sent to Dr Waqainabete and are awaiting a response.