Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says Fijian families would have to pay an excess of $100,000 for an overseas treatment for a child who has a congenital heart defect.
Rabuka says this is no longer the case for Fijian families who worry about the health of their children, as the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital in Nasese celebrated their first anniversary last night.
He said the Sai Prema Foundation is a registered non-profit charitable organization that worked towards building the general outpatient facility that focuses on mother and child care.
“The state-of-the-art Pediatrics hospital is a matter of great pride to Fiji as it is one of the first in the region, opening its doors to serve children in Fiji and across the Pacific as well.”
“A hospital is nothing if it isn’t supported with the right staffing and I extend my gratitude to the Sai Prema Foundation for bringing in world-renowned international teams of surgeons and Pediatric Cardiac super-specialists from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Australia New Zealand and around the world,” he added.
Rabuka said the Sai Prema Foundation has helped more than 6,500 villagers, those in orphanages and those in Age-Care Homes for the recurring monthly provisions and grocery packs they continue to give out.
He said that public investment alone will not be sufficient to meet the demands on our ageing public health infrastructure, and it is through the support and interventions like yours that greatly impact the effective delivery of essential service to our people.
Hospital Director, Dr. Krupali Tappoo indicated that in a short span of one year, 141 children have received life-saving heart surgeries giving them a new gift of life – As of Wednesday, 214 lives have been saved.
Dr Krupali said these are not just 214 lives; these are 214 families, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and Auntie’s.
“We have been given hope and have experienced joy and, most of all, love. This is the power of goodness. This is the power of humanity. And this is what we can achieve when the core principle of our existence is based on a foundation of love,” she added.
The hospital has been privileged to host six visiting teams over the course of the year consisting of those from the United States, Australia, India, Oman and New Zealand who have all volunteered their time to operate on our children with congenital heart disease.
Apart from the children in Fiji, nine children from the Solomon Islands also underwent surgeries and four from Kiribati.
