SMCS - Report #1...community based primary health care program in the Suva-Nausori corridor which as...
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Ramakrishna Mission Head Office: Malolo, Nadi, Fiji Suva Office: 180 Nukulau Rd, Nasese PO Box 716, Nadi, Fiji Ph: (+679) 6702786 Email: [email protected] A Brief Report Ramakrishna Mission Health Services Background The statistics on NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases - Diabetes, hypertension, cancer) being released by the Fiji Ministry of Health are alarming: (1) 80% of deaths are due to NCDs, (2) Fiji has the highest % cardio-vascular disease in the world, (3) Only 16% of Fijians live more than 50 years and 8% cross 60 years of age; (4) One in every three Fijian is diabetic and there are two amputations every day. The situation is getting worse; affecting the productivity of the nation and causing social challenges with more orphans and widows. Sarada Medical Centers The Ramakrishna Mission has been running the Sarada Medical Centre in Nadi since mid- 2012 and has seen about 25,000 patients to date. SMC is a day care out-patient service with two doctors and a nurse and provides charitable medical services to the poor and needy. In mid-2015, a similar clinic was started in Suva close to the densely populated Jittu estate squatter settlement. With free health screening programs etc. the daily patient numbers began to gradually increase to around 20. In the mean time, during intensive consultations with the Ministry of Health officials, it was identified that the man gap in the health care system was in the primary public health sector where the NCDs start but are not properly identified and managed in the early stages and consequently they escalate to serious health complications. It dawned that what is really needed is not another health clinic where “sick patients come to be treated by a doctor” but a proactive preventative approach of going out into the community and providing health screening, counseling, management services as well as awareness, education etc. Accordingly Ramakrishna Mission adapted its approach to pilot community based primary health care program in the Suva-Nausori corridor which as about 40% of the Fiji population. Community Medical and Wellness Clinics (CMWC) The pilot CMWS concept is based on a partnership with five community based CSOs running large secondary schools. The Mission in partnership with the CSO will setup up a community medical centre on their premises and will provide weekly medical services (staff, consumables) to the local community reaching out through the existing well- established network of the school. Two such CMWS have already become operational at Saraswati College and Vunimono High School. In our first clinics last week, our mobile medical team of doctor, nurse and support staff attending to about 70 persons seeking health screening and treatment at each venue. The local CSO managements have been very supportive. We are working on establishing the partnership with another three CSOs from diverse communities. We target to weekly attend to about 200 patients and 500 health screenings. So far about 700 patients and members of the public have benefited from the program.
Transcript of SMCS - Report #1...community based primary health care program in the Suva-Nausori corridor which as...
Ramakrishna Mission Head Office: Malolo, Nadi, Fiji Suva Office: 180 Nukulau Rd, Nasese
PO Box 716, Nadi, Fiji Ph: (+679) 6702786 Email: [email protected]
A Brief Report Ramakrishna Mission Health Services
Background
The statistics on NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases - Diabetes, hypertension, cancer) being released by the Fiji Ministry of Health are alarming: (1) 80% of deaths are due to NCDs, (2) Fiji has the highest % cardio-vascular disease in the world, (3) Only 16% of Fijians live more than 50 years and 8% cross 60 years of age; (4) One in every three Fijian is diabetic and there are two amputations every day. The situation is getting worse; affecting the productivity of the nation and causing social challenges with more orphans and widows.
Sarada Medical Centers
The Ramakrishna Mission has been running the Sarada Medical Centre in Nadi since mid-2012 and has seen about 25,000 patients to date. SMC is a day care out-patient service with two doctors and a nurse and provides charitable medical services to the poor and needy. In mid-2015, a similar clinic was started in Suva close to the densely populated Jittu estate squatter settlement. With free health screening programs etc. the daily patient numbers began to gradually increase to around 20. In the mean time, during intensive consultations with the Ministry of Health officials, it was identified that the man gap in the health care system was in the primary public health sector where the NCDs start but are not properly identified and managed in the early stages and consequently they escalate to serious health complications. It dawned that what is really needed is not another health clinic where “sick patients come to be treated by a doctor” but a proactive preventative approach of going out into the community and providing health screening, counseling, management services as well as awareness, education etc. Accordingly Ramakrishna Mission adapted its approach to pilot community based primary health care program in the Suva-Nausori corridor which as about 40% of the Fiji population.
Community Medical and Wellness Clinics (CMWC)
The pilot CMWS concept is based on a partnership with five community based CSOs running large secondary schools. The Mission in partnership with the CSO will setup up a community medical centre on their premises and will provide weekly medical services (staff, consumables) to the local community reaching out through the existing well-established network of the school. Two such CMWS have already become operational at Saraswati College and Vunimono High School. In our first clinics last week, our mobile medical team of doctor, nurse and support staff attending to about 70 persons seeking health screening and treatment at each venue. The local CSO managements have been very supportive. We are working on establishing the partnership with another three CSOs from diverse communities. We target to weekly attend to about 200 patients and 500 health screenings.
So far about 700 patients and members of the public have benefited from the program.
Tele-Health for Assessment and Management of NCDs
Ramakrishna Mission is currently working on establishing a patient-centric online health record system accessible by both the patient and clinic. This will empower the people to monitor their health parameters, assess the risks, modify their lifestyle to manage their health. This will also enable us to build an electronic database to analyse the NCD scenario along the lines of gender, ethnicity, age etc and thus enable us to target the problem more effectively. The Mission’s proactive health education and awareness approach will take this healthcare solution to the youth in high schools and through them to their families. These programs are in line with the strategies identified by the Fiji Ministry of Health to tackle the NCD challenge.
Sponsorship of this Charitable Health Service
As the program is targeted to the youth and poor sections of the community, we are currently providing the service totally free. This has been possible due to the generous support of the following sponsors to this noble cause: Serve Fiji Foundation-Sydney and Tappoo Group have sponsored a doctor each, Resene Paints Ltd has sponsored a nurse and LICI has sponsored health screening consumables. In these early stages, our medical team is visiting each community medical clinic once a week. However, in view of the very large communities we are targeting to serve, we will need another medical team to serve the anticipated increase in patients. We seek sponsors for another doctor and two nurses and a program coordinator. Once the program is well-established we will work out a means of developing sustainability as we have been able to achieve with our Sarada Medical Centre in Nadi. In the meantime, we seek your support to initiate the program. Swami Tadananda Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Fiji Ph: (+679) 9990123 E: [email protected] Attached are some photos of the services being offered at various venues.
Sarada Medical Centre in Suva
Out-Reach Health Screening on Saturday at Vinod Patel Centre Point
Patient being attended by the doctor at SMC
Health screening by the nurse at SMC
Free health screening the at Saraswati College.
Doctor attending to patient at Vunimono Hall
Out-Reach health screening
