Page 11 - IB Dec 2020

Pacific People of the Year Pacific People of the Year

registered to practice, but I think we
really can’t afford to be in the same
place and so we call on governments PACIFIC ISLAND CASES
and employers to really invest in nursing AND FATALITIES
and midwifery,” Iro says.
“I know in the Cook Islands, the ma- Fiji: 42 cases and 2 deaths
jority of health services in the outer and
remote islands are actually delivered French Polynesia: 14, 559 cases and 76
by nurse midwives and nurse practitio- deaths
ners…We need to support them through Guam: 6757 cases and 112 deaths
telemedicine. Linking them with a
central health centre, you can function Marshall lslands: 4 cases
very well.” New Caledonia: 33 cases
Iro says in the Pacific, there is a lot of
work to do around education of nurses, Northern Mariana Islands: 196 cases, 2
deaths
their scope of practice, ensuring they
are appropriately accredited and regis- PNG: 656 cases, 7 deaths
tered, and that they are recognised and Solomon Islands: 17 cases
compensated for the work they do.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary Gen- Vanuatu: 1 case
eral, Dame Meg Taylor says the region is Wallis and Futuna: 3 cases
now focused on procuring safe, afford-
able and trusted vaccines. She says American Samoa, Cook Islands, Kiribati,
heads of health are working on national Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru,
deployment and vaccination plans, deal- Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga,
ing with indemnity and liability issues, and Tuvalu have not reported a case to
ensuring access to multilateral financ- date.
ing, and ensuring healthcare workers *cumulative cases as of December 2, 2020.
and other high-risk groups are covered Source: WHO
through prioritised and targeted vac-
cination.
Soakai agrees that next year, Pacific down.” admiration. She said to me, with tears,
health systems will need to deal with Some countries are reviving other ‘We’re here. One, it’s hard, two, I ask
issues of vaccine security, the logistics mechanisms. Samoa’s government, as myself and my team, who else is going
of the vaccine rollout and communica- a response to COVID and to measles to do it? And that’s her motivation.”
tions (in the face of potential vaccine before it, has allocated more funding to “It’s very emotional for us,” Dr Tabua
hesitancy and anti-vaxxers), and that village-level women’s committees which says. “We have to carry the burden of
frontline health workers will be at the have historically worked to enhance 5000 health officials who are working
forefront of these efforts. primary healthcare and awareness. day and night to keep this country safe.
In some Pacific countries, years of The General Manager of Fiji’s CO- But we made that oath, we made that
under-investment in health systems has VID-19 Management Unit, Dr. Anaseini pledge, and we’re just hoping that you
also been exposed by the pandemic. Maisema Tabua, recently reminded a definitely can partner with us and have
Last month, the Rita Flynn COVID-19 gathering of the health workers behind a lot of trust in us.”
isolation and treatment facility in Port the masks, and the herculean efforts “I made an oath, that I will serve the
Moresby closed due to funding prob- they have been making. people of Fiji and anyone who comes
lems. National Capital District Health “There are these three ladies who through their doors,” Dr Tabua said. But
Authority chief executive officer Dr have been doing the testing since it all she also made an appeal to her fellow
Jerry Tanumei told The National news- began, three ladies who’ve been work- citizens, to be COVID-ready and do their
paper that while COVID patients were ing seven days a week just to make sure part.
no longer being treated there, testing that we have the tests done on time “Health belongs to everybody, not the
continued. and that people come back in. I took Ministry of Health.”
“Just like any hospital, you need them my favourite cupcake... and I took
funds to operate,” Dr Tanumei said. it to them. And wow, the leader, oh she editor@islandsbusiness.com
“If there are funding constraints, you cried.
cannot do much...You just have to scale “I looked at her and I really had

Islands Business, December 2020 11