SUVA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's Ministry of Health in partnership with its stakeholders launched on Monday the "Health Care On Air" training program to help the Pacific region build capacity and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, speaking at the launching ceremony here on Monday, Fiji's Health Minister Ifereimi Waqainabete said that the initiative will benefit Fiji and other Pacific island nations in delivering health care services in a COVID-19 safe manner.
"This will benefit all the 14 countries and especially the nurses and as the global data indicates, specifically with the surge and re-emergence of diseases in countries and territories, a risk somewhere is a risk anywhere. The presence of communicable diseases in one country represents a threat to the entire Pacific island countries," he said.
The radio training program, with support from World Health Organization and the Pacific Community, will be aired over a period of six months with a total of 33 broadcasts of 30-minutes each that aim to support governments to connect practicing nurses and midwives with the opportunity to learn, share information, and incorporate new WHO guidance on COVID-19.
Participating frontline healthcare workers will also have the opportunity to ask questions for future episodes, share learning needs and receive episode summaries through UNICEF's RapidPro platform, which is a two-way communication system that works with free SMS and messaging apps from smartphones.
Sheldon Yett, United Nations Children's Fund Pacific Representative, said that the majority of nurses and midwives in the Pacific are located in remote rural areas and outer islands, which means they often miss out on regular trainings and updates. These frontline health workers provide services to more than 2 million people, including children, across the region, and need to be equipped with the most up-to-date health knowledge and skills to deliver the best services to these communities. Enditem
