People who need care are usually left behind or neglected, whether they’re in the old people’s homes or on the streets. This, according to Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Sashi Kiran.
Speaking during an International Women’s Day breakfast organised by Fiji Fashion Week at the Grand Pacific Hotel yesterday, she said most of elderly citizens who occupy old peoples homes around Fiji faced mental issues.
“I got a call from Lautoka Hospital that there were two people in Lautoka Hospital, three actually and one died, who were looking for placement,” Ms Sashi said
. “These are people who were left behind by their family and are being looked after by the hospital and they needed space in age-care homes.
“So I got onto that, and we found a space for older persons and thankfully the Ministry of Health has given us Ba Mission Hospital, the older one, to repair and utilise.”
She said the ministry was also conducting an analysis on children in orphanages around Fiji and those who were on the streets.
“As I looked at the problems of the street people and the orphanages, I fell apart within the second and third week. “Lots of babies in our orphanages, all of them needing help, all of them falling apart.
“When I started doing analysis for our streets, we find something like 20 to 30 kids on the streets of Suva alone.”
Ms Kiran said they were working with the Catholic Church to determine the origins of these children and find ways they could be supported.
