BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

THERE is good results from Honiara City Council’s (HCC) operation against foreign language labelled goods in shops last week, it is reported.

Wholesalers and HCC’s inspection unit have struck an agreement whereby the suppliers will relabel products with foreign-language labels using English.

HCC’s Chief Health inspector George Titulu hails this as a successful sign of ‘cooperation and understanding between shop owners and law implementers’.

“With regards to this positive outcome we have major companies and major wholesalers come forward and suggest if we can walk together with the relabeling issue, hence, conversation to walk the talk has already under way in between us.

“Honiara City council will let the general public, when and how will the process of relabelling will be conducted, this is to lessen the issues breaching the food labelling and foreign language by laws of the council,” he said.

He said with regards to the inspection operation, there have been criticisms faced by the taskforce but they never backed down because they were simply implementing the law as they have been mandated.

“When carrying out the operation we faced criticism but we never back down because what we are doing is based on what the law has mandated to us to it with a good faith,” Titulu said.

80 percent of shops in Honiara were inspected and more than 50 were found to be selling foreign-labelled goods.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE case against four men alleged of burgling homes in 2015 will be mentioned in the Honiara Magistrate Court today.

Frank Firimolea, Fred Taebo Dara, and Lawrence Liliva and a 15-year-old juvenile are facing various charges in relation to the armed robbery on different dates in May and June 2015.

Prosecution alleged that during those months, there were a number of armed robbery and break-in cases reported to police from the Ngossi area, west Honiara; to Ranadi, east Honiara.

The incidents involved a group of armed masked men between the ages of 15 and 30.

It was alleged this group invaded homes of expatriates, business people, as well as those of Solomon Islanders and removed valuable properties and money.

A number of home owners sustained injuries during the robbery incidents, and some had to be flown overseas for medical treatment.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

THE Solomon Airlines A320 H4-BUS being sent to ST Aerospace Engineering in Singapore for scheduled maintenance since February is still waiting for one of its engines under restoration work.

This is according to a Solomon Airlines media statement yesterday, which said one of the engines required some schedule restoration work to be carried out in which a six-month long search prior to the commencement of the scheduled check failed to find a suitable engine for Solomon Airlines to lease or purchase.

“The engine fitted to the A320 was sent to TAP engine workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, for the restoration work to be carried out in an agreed 56-day period.

“Due to the long lead time in acquiring parts, the 56 days have now passed and the engine is still in the workshop while the aircraft remains in Singapore awaiting the engine.

“There is a critical worldwide shortage of engines and parts and specifically for the CFM56-5A1 engine fitted to this aircraft. Other much larger carriers such as Air France and Air Canada are struggling to find engines.

“With only one A320 in the fleet, Solomon Airlines is obviously in a more difficult position than other airlines.”

As an interim solution, Nauru Airlines is currently flying the Solomon Airlines schedule under a wet lease arrangement.

It is anticipated the situation will be resolved within the next 30 to 60 days.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THERE are more reported cases of females with non-communicable diseases than men in the Solomon Islands, it is reported.

Solomon Islands is currently facing a ‘double-disease burden’ with high prevalence of communicable diseases and high growth in non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services Health Core Indicative report 2017 states Solomon Islands has an increased number of NCD cases particularly diabetes and hypertension (high blood), from 2016 to 2017.

Females with diabetes in Solomon Islands is at 17 percent compared to men who are at 8 percent, from 15-49 years old.

According to the report, the number of patients screened for diabetes and hypertension rose significantly in 2017 with 94 percent screened for diabetes and 41 percent measured for hypertension.

In 2015 the MHMS and World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a STEPS survey to assess risk factors attributing to NCDs in the Solomon Islands.

The report revealed 37 percent of the country’s population aged from 18-69 reported daily smoking (56 percent men and 21 percent female), and approximately 88 percent reported consuming less than five combined daily servings of fruit and vegetables.

32 percent of males reported consuming alcohol within the past 30 days, and approximately 36 percent of 18-69 years old were overweight and 23 percent were obese, according to the MHMS report.

While the total number of people living with NCD in Solomon Islands is unknown, data collected through the HIS Monthly Health Facility reporting offers insights into the distribution of disease.

It is noted that hypertension and asthma and chronic chest condition are the two most common reasons for presenting to a health facility for an NCD check-up (32 percent and 25 percent respectively).

The high number of people classified as having other chronic diseases (15 percent) is a cause for concern as this would be affecting reliability of the data if one disease is being systematically misreported as another.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THE number of people undergoing test for Human Immuno-deficiency (HIV) has declined by half last year, it is reported.

MINISTRY of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) in its 2017 Health Core Indicator Report stated the number tests for HIV cases in Solomon Islands has declined significantly from 6,760 in 2016 to just 3,531 in 2017.

Between 2016 and 2017, an average of 4,900 tests were performed each year with a positive rate of 0.3 percent.

This means that on average, less than 2 people tested positive for HIV in the Solomon Islands each year, according to the report.

While this number is low, it is likely to be influenced by considerable under-reporting of new or suspected cases due to low numbers being tested (less than one percent of the total population).

Meanwhile, a HIV-positive test per year in the country is becoming a core indicator for the Solomon Islands to ensure 2030 agendas are achieved.

HIV and AIDS have become major public health problems in many countries, and both the SDGs and UN General Assembly special session on HIV and AIDS (UNGASS) have set goals for reducing HIV prevalence.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Auki

THE project of civil registration and vital statistic especially on verbal autopsy will help improve necessary areas of work on diseases in the country.

The project is being implemented in the country with the aim of gathering data on diseases causing death or probable cause of death in the country.

Data for Health Country Coordinator of WHO, Mr Rodley Ruskin said there should be a marked improvement in death certifying in the country after the project.

This is because health practitioners have been trained on what to do.

He says that by collecting data on deaths in the country it will help them find out diseases responsible for deaths in the country.

“As long as we collect enough data we can do analysis of the data and put up the top 10 causes of death in the country.

“So it will list in descending order with diseases responsible for more deaths at the top and going down.

“The data will show us the information and from there we will identify health areas need for more work to be done on them.”

Ruskin said the aim of the project is to provide information to donor partners and government to allocate resources on the right health related areas based the findings.

“For example, rather than spending resources on health areas not really matter, we spend it on areas that cause more death.

“So the finding as the result of this work will guide on what to put priority on and what is less.”

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

AROUND 395 cases of tuberculosis are reported each year in the Solomon Islands, according to a health ministry report.

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services’ 2017 Health Core Indicator Report says for the period 2015-2017, Solomon Islands had a rate of 65 notified TB cases per 100,000 population which means on average; around 395 cases of TB are confirmed and reported each year.

The rate has remained stable over the past five years, fluctuating between 60 and 75 cases per 100,000 people annually.

Honiara City Council has the highest rate for the period 2015 to 2017; however this figure may be affected by the relative ease of access to the NRH and its diagnostic laboratory for patients.

Rennell-Bellona and Makira also have comparatively high rates; however their smaller populations are likely to be affecting data comparability.

The report stated in Rennell-Bellona, the notification rate was 86 per 100,000 in 2015 which rose in 2016 whilst the difference in cases was just three in the two years.

This demonstrates the high stochastic (or random) variability that occurs in small populations.

Another critically important indicator in monitoring the impact of TB in a population is the treatment success rate.

This relates to the number of confirmed smear-positive cases that were cured or in which a full course of treatment was completed (and is written as a percent).

MHMS’s report highlighted between 2014 and 2016, the Solomon Islands had an average treatment success rate of 92 percent.

This indicates a high number of people are completing treatment with minor at provincial level difference with Malaita (83 percent) and Western province (88 percent) which are below the national average.

Statistics suggests that the cure rate for TB has been significantly low, 63 percent in 2016.

This is likely due to the lower number of sputum smear examination being carried out at the end of treatment which means more people are completing treatment without confirmation TB has been successfully cured.

This situation can provide an environment for the development of drug-resistant TB which is already an issue in neighbouring countries such as Papua New Guinea, according to the MHMS.

As per the global minimum standards for TB, at least 70 percent of people with infectious TB need to be diagnosed under directly-observed treatment, short-course (DOTS), and at least 85 percent of these people are cured.

Looking at the mortality rate for TB, the steady decline in deaths due to TB suggests the low cure rate is a reflection of inadequate testing services and not poor treatment outcomes.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

TRIAL into the case against the Member of Parliament for Baegu/Asifola Constituency is set to resume tomorrow.

Yesterday pertaining legal issues were sorted out and the case adjourned for tomorrow for trial proper.

This is the case against David Tome, MP, who is alleged to have involved in converting funds in relation to incidents in 2011.

Prosecution alleged that in 2011 Mr Tome obtained public funds for a constituency project; however those funds were not used as intended and were converted for his own use.

The MP is charged with 14 counts of conversion under Section 278(1) (c) (i) of the Penal Code, involving funds totalling $67,170.

The minister was on $2,000 cash bail and will appear in court faithfully till his case is completed.

Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for the crown on this case.