Twenty acres of land have been reserved in Salelologa to build a new hospital for Savai’i.
This was confirmed by Minister of Health Valasi Tafito Selesele when addressed Parliament yesterday over concerns raised during the deliberation of the Annual Report of the National Kidney Foundation for the Financial Year 2019/2020.
Regarding the need to upgrade the hospital in Tuasivi, the Minister informed Members that there are dialysis machines at the hospital; however, more can be added from the new set of machines coming in later.
Minister of Health, cited that the majority of the concerns provided by M.P.s target preventative measures; however, it is also important to look at the root causes of kidney failure and non-communicable diseases.
The Minister stressed the importance of primary health care which is the responsibility of Parliament as leaders of the country to facilitate.
He placed emphasis on the importance of starting our health promotions and advocacies in our communities to avoid the costs of sending people overseas for medical treatment.
The Minister noted that the NKF have specialist surgeons from overseas who travel 3-4 times to Samoa to assist the local surgeon with dialysis patients.
The Minister further stressed the importance of conducting site visits on school canteens and restaurants to monitor what they sell and emphasized that it requires collective action to put business owners in the right place, especially on food sold to students and children.
