Australian Funded Paediatric Surgical Team Visits Fiji

25 March 2010

A surgical team funded by the Australian aid program is undertaking paediatric surgery at Suva’s War Memorial Hospital this week.

The team, comprising specialists from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji will complete around 30 operations on children of all ages during the week-long visit which finishes this Sunday, 27 March.

The visit is part of an ongoing schedule of visits coordinated under the Pacific Islands Project which is funded by the Australian Government through its aid program.

Visiting team member, Dr Alex Auldist who is normally based at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, says team members are pleased to be able to offer their services to local patients and at the same time share their surgical skills with local counterparts.

“We have seen some challenging cases this week. We’re also glad to be able to share our skills with local counterparts. In fact, Fiji is very fortunate to have a paediatric surgeon of the quality of Dr Jitoko Cama. He is a very skilled surgeon and highly respected by his colleagues in Australia and New Zealand,” Dr Auldist said.

Dr Cama, who is Fiji’s only paediatric surgeon, trained at the Fiji School of Medicine and is a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

“We are very lucky to have such a fine surgical team here in Fiji. Working in isolation is very difficult and having the team here provides an experienced second opinion which is invaluable.” Dr Cama said.

A feature of the visits is that the volunteers who make up the teams provide a support and mentorship role to their Pacific counterparts. They often return to the host hospital several times and maintain regular communication between visits.

Over the past 12 months a total of 554 consultations were held and 195 surgical procedures performed by visiting surgical teams funded by the Australian aid program and arranged by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

In 2010 the Australian aid program will fund 8 clinical visits to Colonial War Memorial Hospital and Lautoka Hospital in Fiji.


**ENDS**

[Background: The Pacific Islands Project (PIP) provides specialist surgical and medical services to 11 Pacific Island Countries including Fiji. The project delivers capacity building activities for health professionals across the Pacific region. The Project is also developing the medical knowledge and skills of Pacific Island health workers, enabling them to deliver a range of primary, secondary and tertiary health services to their populations. This is achieved through the delivery of specialist training workshops and supporting local medical personnel to accompany and work with the visiting specialist teams.
One of the key aspects of the project is mentoring and skills transfer. For example, as part of the current visit to Colonial War Memorial Hospital the visit builds on achievements of the 2009 visit by Dr Auldist and his team and facilitates ongoing professional development and clinical support for Dr Cama and other Fiji based medical professionals.
The Australian Government funding for the Pacific Islands Project totals A$14.3 Million over the period 2001-2010. The Pacific Islands Project has been providing clinical support to Fiji since 1998. From 1998-2009 there have been a total of 53 Pacific Islands Project clinical visits to Fiji.]