Australian High Commission provides life-saving equipment to Lautoka Hospital

30 November 2007

Australian High Commissioner James Batley today handed $13,000 of medical equipment to the Lautoka Hospital’s Children’s Unit. Money for this equipment was raised through a Charity Ball organised by the Australian High Commission Social Club.

In making this presentation, Mr Batley said the Australian High Commission was pleased to be able to help parents and babies in the west of Fiji. “This equipment can detect breathing problems in premature babies, and will help prevent deaths of premature babies at Lautoka Hospital,” said Mr Batley.

A pediatrician at Lautoka Hospital, Dr Ben Reeves, said equipment such as this is important for the hospital. “One of the problems of being born prematurely is that there can be pauses in breathing, or apnoea. These pauses can be life threatening, unless detected by simple monitoring equipment placed in the baby’s cot. Thanks to this generous donation, we now have that equipment.”

Mr Batley said the High Commission has traditionally held an annual Charity Ball, with the aim of raising money for organisations which provide important support to the community. “Through the generosity of those who attended the event this year, and a number of Fiji businesses which provided significant sponsorship, we reached our goal of purchasing five state-of-the-art neonatal respiration monitors”.

Mr Batley said funds raised at the event were also sufficient to purchase new breast pump equipment for the Hospital.

Lautoka hospital is the referral centre for the Western Health District. It is responsible for children referred for specialist advice from Sigatoka, Nadi, Ba, Tavua and Raki-Raki, as well as the adjacent coastal and inland areas. With a population of the district of approximately 290,000, there are more than 6000 births per year. For all of these patients, there are only limited facilities, particularly in intensive care areas. It was reported that last year there were just over 300 admissions to the intensive care nursery, of whom 42 died. Mostly, these babies died from complications of prematurity.