Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj has questioned how the government can claim victory in the health sector when the basic physical environment for delivering care is falling apart, however, Minister for Health Dr Atonio Lalabalavu says maintaining elimination status requires continued vigilance and investment.
While responding to the Minister's statement on the declaration of the elimination of trachoma, measles, and rubella, Maharaj says Fiji faces a critical exodus of medical professionals who are frustrated by poor planning.
He says newly graduated nurses are waiting up to six months for employment, while established staff remain overworked - a situation he describes as poor management.
Maharaj says this is a betrayal of young professionals and a direct threat to women’s health, given the critically low number of midwives available for Fiji’s childbearing population.
The Opposition MP says the government speaks of a larger health budget, but the Opposition continues to see unspent funds in crucial areas.
He adds that millions of dollars allocated for staff quarters and vital hospital upgrades, including at Labasa Hospital, remain unspent.
A point of order was raised by the Minister for Public Works, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, who asked Maharaj to stick to the issues raised in the ministerial statement.
Maharaj maintained that when a person is suffering from a disease, they end up in hospitals that must have a conducive environment in terms of human resources and infrastructure for effective treatment.
He says whether it is mumps, rubella, measles, trachoma, HIV, or NCDs, Fiji needs to provide a conducive environment for all patients.
The Opposition MP says while eliminating diseases through focused campaigns is commendable, maintaining a functioning, modern, and accessible healthcare system is equally important.
Maharaj adds that the people of Fiji deserve a healthcare system that works — from remote village clinics to central hospital wards.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Lalabalavu says measles was one of Fiji’s most serious diseases, responsible for repeated outbreaks throughout the 20th century.
He says the infamous 1875 outbreak killed about a quarter of Fiji’s population at the time.
Dr Lalabalavu says the most recent outbreak occurred between November 2019 and April 2020, with 31 confirmed cases and no deaths, centered in the Serua/Namosi health subdivision.
He adds that the outbreak was linked to others in the Pacific region, including New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa, which recorded close to 6,000 cases and 83 deaths.
The Minister says Fiji’s outbreak response included rapid case notification through surveillance and laboratory systems, isolation and quarantine of contacts, and mass vaccination of over 300,000 people aged between 6 months to 5 years and 19 to 39 years to close immunity gaps.
Dr Lalabalavu says all suspected measles cases detected through their surveillance systems are investigated by the Ministry through divisional teams and the Fiji Centre for Disease Control, with confirmatory testing at the National Public Health Laboratory and support from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.
Speaking on rubella, Dr Lalabalavu says transmission of the disease in Fiji has been interrupted since 2013, with the last confirmed case recorded in 2016.
He says through high vaccination coverage and strengthened surveillance, rubella circulation has been eliminated for nearly a decade, thereby preventing congenital rubella syndrome in newborns.
Dr Lalabalavu also says trachoma was once a leading cause of blindness in the country, with prevalence exceeding 20 percent among children in some areas in the 1950s.
He says in 2007, a rapid assessment in high-risk Fijian communities revealed active trachoma rates averaging 22 percent in children aged one to nine years.
The Minister adds that Fiji then adopted the SAFE strategy, Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvement. Population-based surveys in 2012 showed that the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation remained above the 5 percent threshold, with trachomatous trichiasis in adults recorded at 8.7 percent.
Dr Lalabalavu says Fiji’s elimination of measles, rubella, and trachoma demonstrates that with sustained commitment, scientific excellence, community solidarity, and collective action, public health victories are not only possible, but they are also lasting.
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