The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has received 50 oxygen concentration machines and 30 pulse oximetre machines worth $126,000 from Cure Kids Fiji.
These machines will be allocated to areas in Labasa and Savusavu.
Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete says no Fijian should ever die from the lack of oxygen and with the donation, it will help patients in Fiji.
Dr Waqainabete says according to COVID-19 data, approximately 19 percent of those who develop COVID-19 suffer from respiratory-tract infection.
He says oxygen therapy is an essential treatment and this partnership will ensure that more people have better access to life-saving oxygen.
He says these machines are helpful to the work that they do and now they will reduce their use of cylinders which pose as a safety hazard.
Meanwhile, Dr Sainimere Boladuadua who is the representative from Cure Kids Fiji says this donation is an essential ingredient to help in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Boladuadua says they have partnered with Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the University of Auckland and Azimut360 for the Fiji Oxygen project.
The funds used to purchase the equipment were raised for Cure Kids by ANZ Fiji500, Armacup, and employees of Fiji Water and Neptune, through their Wonderful Giving Program.
Cure Kids Fiji has partnered with the Ministry to broaden access to treatment with oxygen using oxygen concentrators.
Cure Kids has worked with the Health Ministry to train more than 130 clinical and technical staff to use and maintain the equipment, and to treat more than 7,700 patients in six health facilities around Fiji.
Since launching in Fiji, Cure Kids Fiji has partnered with Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services to deliver more than FJ$7 million of initiatives in child health.
