Boost for health services

THE revelation that as many as 200 children in Fiji are born with congenital heart disease is a concern. The figure was revealed by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama while opening the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital in Suva on Wednesday night.

He said, if we considered the entire Pacific region, that number would go up to 2500 children.

The devastating reality, he noted, was that most of these children would not reach adulthood.

He said, without access to surgical intervention, most of these children were doomed to live very short lives of immense suffering.

The $25 million facility provides 54 beds and pediatric care for free. Sai Prema Foundation’s director Sumeet Tappoo thanked the Government for granting the piece of land upon which the hospital exists.

The state-of-the-art facility would be treating and carrying out life-saving surgeries on children born with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Mr Tappoo, in an earlier statement, said Fiji was the first nation in the Pacific and Oceania region to have such a hospital.

All surgeries and treatments, he said, would be performed free of cost. The hospital, he said, does not and will not have a billing counter!

Heart disease, he noted, was the number one killer among children. Twice as many children, he said, died from Congenital Heart Disease than from all childhood cancers combined.

The hospital houses state-of-the-art equipment for its catheterization lab, operating theatre, intensive care unit, pre-operative and post-operative wards. It also includes a training centre with technological capabilities for international video conferencing.

There can be no doubts about the fact that this facility will inch out confidence in Fijians living with loved ones who are suffering right now.

It will be met with optimism and great hope. We finally have a facility that will effectively treat our children and actually provide top services and expertise right here at home.

It means our children will now have access to international highly qualified doctors and other medical professionals.

We have said this before. It means our children can have major operations done right here at home, in a hospital that meets the highest international standards.

This facility will also raise the profile of medical services available in Fiji.

You can now add confidence and hope for families who have loved ones suffering from congenital heart disease.

Acknowledgement is due for everyone who has been part of this journey. There are many Fijians who would be very grateful and thankful today.