Fiji Medical Association president Ifereimi Waqainabete said debilitating infrastructure and lack of training were their main concerns and inability to treat the growing number of cancer patients in the country.
“It’s like a driver of a substandard bus caught in the fire,” he said. “The driver merely does his job, which is to drive the bus. If the bus catches fire, it’s not the driver’s fault it’s the bus company that needs to be scrutinized. The principle applies to us.”
Dr. Waqainabete said improving services and treatment for cancer patients should be treated as a serious and urgent matter.
“If you do the math, we need F$32 million a year to manage one type of cancer alone,” he said. “Unlike the western world, we can’t screen patients. Women of a certain age are recommended to have their breasts screened, but we don’t do it here. We don’t have resources to screen or manage cancer.”
Waqanaibete said there was a need to allocate a separate unit in the hospital for cancer patients.
Another concern was the high cost of medicine for cancer patients that many could not afford, he said.
