It is my current understanding that consideration has been given at the NRH to the possible medical transfer of sick patients at the NRH who have been assessed as likely to benefit from offshore treatment and possibly surgery in cases where medical treatment is not yet available at home.
It is also my understanding that Dr.Yogesh of the NRH was tasked by the NRHS overseas Referral Committee in investigating the possibility of such transfer arrangements
While in the past years most referrals from the NRH were sent for follow-up medical treatment to selected hospitals in either Australia or New Zealand the costs have been high and not always possible to arrange for several years and help as often had to be sought from Australian volunteer doctors who, until the Covid-19 pandemic regularly assisted with medical treatment, surgery or ran courses at the NRH for local doctors and nursing staff.
There is at least one of the Solomon Islands neighboring countries that regularly transfers its sick patients to selected Indian hospitals for treatment with good results and perhaps Dr Yogesh should look into such arrangements and see how the NRH might also benefit.
IN 2019 the India and Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) Leaders meeting was held on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York. At the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that India was “committed to advancing development priorities of Pacific Island Countries (PICs)”. The meeting was attended by the heads of delegations of 12 PICs including Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. At the conclusion of the meeting the third Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit was announced to be held in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, in the first half of 2020.
In more recent times in the field of healthcare and medicine, India is planning to explore developing capacity for health services, set up a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and the distribution centre in the Pacific Island region for access to affordable drug and has offered a Line of Credit for this project. India has also expressed willingness to provide necessary technical and developmental assistance for capacity building.
I believe diplomatic ties between India and the Solomon Islands are solid and no opportunity should be lost in exploring medical transfers to Indian hospitals where there are good doctors, good medical facilities and providing cost savings to the Solomon Islands Government compared to the offshore transfer of sick patients to hospitals in Australia or New Zealand and especially given the problems that persist in getting admissions to good hospitals in both those countries.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
