The inaugural Friends of Fiji Health (FOFH) charitable mission in western Fiji in November-December last year has met with great success, spurring on the dedicated, close-knit volunteer team to do more this year.

“What the team achieved has exceeded all expectations,” mission leader Dr Sunil Pillay, a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist with Fertility Associates and Auckland Hospital, who is also a founding trustee and chairman of FOFH told Indian Weekender last week.

On November 27, 33 volunteer medical professionals of the New Zealand registered charity set up by a group of Fiji-born NZ-based professionals with a desire to contribute in a meaningful way to help the people in their country of birth began a two-week mission to provide much needed relief to Fijian patients.

The team has been working on the project for some time. The trustees undertook a fact-finding, scoping visit to Fiji in July 2010. They found enthusiastic medical staff doing some good work despite shortages of equipment, infrastructure, supplies and enough hands.

FOFH identified specific needs in the areas of internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery and primary healthcare. This helped set the stage for the November-December mission.

“We had set a target of 40 surgical procedures for the two week mission but ended up doing 61,” Dr Pillay said. “54 were major procedures, 4 moderate and 3 minor.” The clinics set up during the mission also treated some 150 patients – more than what was originally planned.

“Importantly, there were no complications in any of these procedures. This is testimony to the expertise of the FOFH team and the local doctors and nurses in Fiji,” Dr Pillay added.

The FOFH volunteer team included 12 specialist doctors, 18 nurses, three anesthetists, several technicians, and a physiotherapist and comprised Fijians, Fiji Indians and Kiwis working in the New Zealand medical system – both private and public.

The surgical mission was mainly based out of Lautoka Hospital in the west of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, not far from the international airport, Nadi. Lautoka Hospital services half the population of Viti Levu, the other major centre being the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva.

Though small in number the medical team was big on service delivery. They took the services to patients in districts outside Lautoka. “This resulted in working long hours in sometimes-difficult environmental conditions alongside the local experts,” Dr Ajay Kumar, FOFH trustee and volunteer heading the specialist physician team told Indian Weekender.

For the first time in Fiji the endoscopic procedures were done in the districts, away from the main hospitals, much to the delight of local authorities and patients. The team took the services to 5 district hospitals in the Western Division. They assessed and formulated comprehensive management plans for some 300 patients with complex medical problems as well as performing 89 endoscopic procedures.

Dr Vinod Singh, a physician, was also based at Lautoka Hospital to provide much needed respite, teaching and expertise with regard to complex cases.

“We have been greatly enthused by this first mission,” says mission project manager Bob Naidu. He and the dedicated and highly motivated band of trustees are now working on ways and means to mount more missions for FOFH on the back of the success of last month’s mission.

FOFH took great care in planning its first mission. “What we have learned from it will help us fine tune future missions,” Mr Naidu said. The mission had taken into account medico legal aspects and any post-operative follow-ups that may have been required on the local patients after the team returned to New Zealand. “But there being no complications, this did not arise,” Dr Pillay added.

One of the highpoints of the mission was the official recommissioning of the two operating theatres as well as the opening of a new operating theatre, which was completed by a joint effort between Family Trusts, Friends of Fiji Heart Foundation and FOFH.

Dr Eloni Tora, Deputy Secretary of Health officially opened the theatres in the presence of Joe Cokanasiga (Minister of Agriculture and Assistant Prime Minister, proud father of Adi Talei a volunteer team leader for the nurses that travelled with the team), Mr Punja of Punja & Sons and Dilip Khatri of Jacks Fiji.

FOFH is a completely independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) with humanitarian aims and no political affiliations. The Fijian government is accepting of the helping hand that FOFH offers to the Fijian people and has made its facilities available to FOFH.

While acknowledging the contributions of its sponsors who have generously donated funds, medicines, medical equipment and in kind, FOFH is actively sourcing funding from individuals and organisations to help it meet the costs of future missions.

Excerpts from FOFH volunteers’ Fiji diary:

Mrs M, A 66 year old Indian woman, was referred to the FOFH gynaecology clinic at Lautoka Hospital by the FOFH team working at Nadi Hospital. Her daughter-law brought her to the hospital on a wheelchair. She had a long history of back and pelvic pain. She said that it felt like her “inside was falling out”. She was unable to do any work at home and depended on others for help.

In the clinic, we had great difficulty in getting her on to the examining table. She was diagnosed as having pelvic organ prolapsed and needed surgery. She was admitted to the gynaecology ward on the same day and proceeded to have a very successful vaginal hysterectomy with anterior and posterior repair on the next day.

The next morning she was feeling much better but was very reluctant to mobilise because in her mind she did not believe that she could. Later on the same day, with a bit of encouragement and support, she was up on her feet. She was discharged home 2 days later and walked from the hospital
Prior to going home, she thanked all the staff and gave” a thousand blessings “ to FOFH team and hoped that we would return to help many other women like her.
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Mary, a 47-year-old lady with an abdominal-pelvic mass growing from sometime came in the last hours for help.

Her mass has been growing for some years causing her difficulty with mobility. This growing mass also decreased her appetite. She had lost a lot of weight. Mary felt tired and could not go about doing her daily duties. She became dependent on her family for being looked after.

Mary recovered fully after a challenging but uncomplicated surgery removing a 29kg ovarian mass. She went home 5 days after surgery to usual normal duties. Mary is thankful to the volunteer team and Lautoka Hospital Staff.

You can donate to FOFH projects
By Cheque: Please make the cheque payable to “Friends of Fiji Health [NZ] Inc” and mark it “Not Negotiable”. Post to: The Treasurer, Rajesh Chaudhary, 34A Omahu Road, Remuera 1050, Auckland. Please provide your full name and address.
By Direct Credit:Donations can be paid by direct credit to: ASB Bank Limited – Account No. 12-3252-0044839-00.