Wheelchairs to Boost Assistance to Patients
The Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, welcomed and praised the hard work of Wheelchair Foundation United States of America while receiving the new 110 wheelchairs donation last Friday.
This donation has been spearheaded by Chetan Singh Heyer of the wheelchairfoundation.org of the United States of America. Mr Heyer is a former resident of Ba, after working with the ministry in identifying the need for wheelchairs in the country To date, 550 wheelchairs have been handed over to the ministry since 2012 and this has been distributed to health facilities around the country for patients use and to identify patients who are in need of such assistance. While handing over the donation Mr Heyer expressed his satisfaction for being able to arrange for this assistance for the needy people of Fiji.
“This will give them mobility to move around and
be productive and they do not have to depend on others. My message to them is to use the wheelchairs wisely,” Mr Heyer said.
“I would like to thank the following people, Dr Waqainabete, for accepting the current 110 wheelchairs, Dr Neil Sharma, the former Minister of Health Fiji, who arranged and pioneered this wheelchair project allowing medical aid to arrive tax free and storage until distributed, Jeremaia Mataika of Fiji Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Service Centre, Dr Santokh Singh, Auckland NZ, Rotary and Lions Clubs, Lords Jeweler’s, Vodafone and many supporters in the United States and Fiji.” Dr Waqainabete thanked those involved in tbe project and assured them that the medical staff would take care of the wheelchairs.