A WHO review of the Solomon Islands Health System written in 2015, which I spent time reading today, said in an opening paragraph that the county’s health system had significant weaknesses but also considerable strengths and significant achievements in health outcomes. The same opening paragraph noted the country faced important health challenges that could undermine development gains.
Now 7 years on since that WHO was released, I will share some of its original contents and pose the question of whether what was seen as “challenges” in 2015 have been overcome, but my honest answer to the question is they have not, but why not and when will real change to the challenges be witnessed?
Quote
The demographic profile exacerbates these challenges. Increasing numbers of young women reaching reproductive age increases the need for maternal, newborn and child health services. At the same time, more people are living longer or reaching old age; this change, combined with the high prevalence of risk factors, is causing growth in noncommunicable diseases and related disabilities, as well as an increase in premature deaths.
The physical health network in the Solomon Islands is made up of a National Referral Hospital, provincial hospitals, area health centers, rural health clinics, and nurse aide posts. Most of the provinces have access to at least one level of health facility, based on the size and distribution of their population. However, these health centers and rural health clinics are in urgent need of an upgrade, repair, or renovation. Many facilities have serious shortages of clinical equipment and medical supplies, with hospitals often relying on old and poorly maintained medical, diagnostic and surgical equipment. The availability of medicines in rural areas is improving.
Solomon Islands is served by a well-trained nursing workforce that provides the backbone of service delivery in rural areas. However, weak strategic workforce planning has led to a potential oversupply of some cadres (such as doctors) and workforce deficits in other areas such as medical laboratory staff, radiologists, and other allied health professionals. High staff turnover is another issue, largely due to financing constraints, along with the migration of some specialized health workers to other countries for better salaries and working conditions.
Overall, the Solomon Islands health system can be characterized as conceptually fit for purpose but needing ongoing maintenance and development in some key areas such as management and service administration. There is a high degree of financial risk protection with low out-of-pocket payments. Possibly, for this reason, health service contact rates are high by regional comparison and have been resilient to the service disruptions caused by political instability and unrest.
End of quote.
Source – WHO Report published in 2015
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
