Employment opportunities for nurses and doctors in the public sector may become limited in the future as the number of graduates continues to increase.
Assistant Minister for Health Penioni Ravunawa said Fiji is now producing significantly more medical and nursing graduates than in previous years due to the expansion of training institutions.
Mr Ravunawa said this growth could eventually create challenges for public sector employment.
“In time to come, there’ll be limited employment opportunities in the public sector for nurses and doctors as well,” he said.
Mr Ravunawa said the Ministry of Health was working towards aligning staffing levels with the World Health Organization’s patient-doctor ratio.
“We are enforcing that, so we are trying to look at the WHO patient-doctor ratio to try to come to align with that in our policy direction, and also to create new positions so that we can meet the WHO patient-doctor ratio in coming years.”
Discussions are underway with the minister for civil service and the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the issue.
Mr Ravunawa confirmed the line minister was expected to provide an update either before the national budget announcement or shortly afterwards.
