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World Bank Health Specialist Dr Mesulame Namedre says that Fiji has a history of underinvesting in its health sector compared to its upper-middle-income country peers.

With the total health expenditure at 4.25 percent of Gross Domestic Product, Dr. Namedre notes that Fiji spends less on health than countries with similar income levels.

Fiji’s public health spending, as a proportion of total health expenditures, was 2.6 percent of GDP in 2019, which is lower than most of its upper-middle-income and regional peers.
Dr. Namedre emphasizes that while the government’s health sector spending may increase, the bigger question is where exactly this money is being spent.

“So there’s some increases in other areas of spend as well, but because the spending in hospitals is much bigger, it’s again, crowding out the spending in the other areas of health that the government is spending money on. So with all that money that’s being spent in the hospital, what we also trying to see is whether the spending in hospitals are optimized.”

He also states that urban health centres, which serve the majority of patients, are often overwhelmed.

Additionally, Dr. Namedre notes that many fully equipped hospitals are not utilizing their resources effectively, failing to reach the 70 to 80 percent patient occupancy rate.

“So the point is, there’s a lot of money flowing to hospitals, but are we making the best use of these hospitals. And then, in comparison, we look at primary healthcare facilities. We look at health centres and nursing stations. Most of us have had contact with the health facilities. We know what the health centers look like, the plumbing systems, electricity supplies of medications, and also the human resources in these facilities.”

These findings were highlighted in the World Bank’s review of Fiji’s health sector.

The report, titled “Mo Bulabula, ka Bula Balavu: Wishing You a Healthy Life and a Long Life,” will be officially launched today by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

One of the goals of this review, requested by the Ministry of Finance, is to reduce the number of patients with chronic conditions and related complications who seek care at secondary and tertiary facilities while placing greater emphasis on strengthening primary healthcare.