FIJI has a strong public health system compared with other regional countries, says Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete.
He said resources and upskilling of medical staff were being prioritised to ensure the protection of communities.
“We have a very strong public health component within the Ministry of Health which has always been strong,” he said.
“One of the testaments to this is we have a very high immunisation rate which is one of the highest in the Pacific, and maybe even in the world.
“We are geographically represented with health facilities.
“In a lot of places we have either a nursing station or a health centre along with our subdivisional hospitals.
“We also have our two specialised hospitals for women and men.
“We have about 207 facilities and we have a growing cohort of well trained staff in public health that is going out to the community, going to the settlements and into schools.
“We have our school health program, a dental program whereby our medical staff go into our communities to educate our people about dental health.
“This shows the robustness of our public health capacity.”
