BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
THE weeklong Provincial Health Summit in Gizo, Western Province, concluded on high note last week, with participants describing the event as informative, inspiring and instrumental in shaping a collective approach towards improving primary health care services across the province.
The summit brought together nurses, clinic supervisors, doctors, community leaders, education officials, representatives of the Western Provincial Government and development partners to discuss challenges and opportunities within the health sector.
Participants praised the summit for introducing new ideas, innovations and practical approaches that could strengthen primary health care services at both community and institutional levels.
Community representative from the Shortland Islands, James Lafuia, said the summit had broadened his understanding of the important role communities play in supporting health services.
He said one of the key lessons learned was that community leaders and communities themselves have a responsibility to support health workers and ensure health programs are successfully implemented.
“This week I learned a lot, especially how we as community leaders can support nurses and doctors at the community level.
“We normally put blame on health workers, but now I realise that we as community leaders also have an important role to ensure health best practices are implemented in our communities,” Lafuia said.
He said improving community settings and strengthening local leadership involvement in decision-making processes would help ensure health initiatives are effectively carried out.
Western Province Principal Education Officer, Derick Gasa, acknowledged the partners who made the summit possible.
He acknowledged the Provincial Health Adviser Najib Ullah Baig of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services for facilitating the sessions throughout the week.
Gasa described the summit as an eye-opener for many stakeholders and said it highlighted areas where schools could contribute to improving primary health care.
“I’ve learned a lot over the five days.
“I will go back to my team and look at ways we can factor primary health care into schools and support the efforts to improve health outcomes in Western Province,” he said.
Zone Four Supervisor Stephen Majupala also welcomed the opportunity to participate in the summit, saying it had generated practical ideas for addressing primary health care challenges.
He said discussions throughout the week have identified several issues affecting rural clinics and hospitals that require further dialogue and collaboration.
“We have identified some of the issues and, going forward, we need to sit down and discuss how we are going to address them,” Majupala said.
In his speech, Director of Western Province Health Services, Dr Dickson Boara, acknowledged Mr Baig and his team for delivering the weeklong sessions.
He also thanked Western Health Service leaders for supporting the hosting of the summit and acknowledged the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), the Australian Government and other partners for their support.
Boara further recognised the contributions of Area Health Supervisors, the Principal Education Officer, representatives from the Western Provincial Government, supervising doctors from Helena Goldie Hospital and community leaders who attended the summit.
He said the strong participation of community leaders reflected an important transition towards a more integrated approach to addressing health issues in Solomon Islands.
Boara said the presence of community leaders reinforces the move towards an integrated approach where communities, health workers, education authorities and government agencies work together to improve health services.
“Throughout the summit, participants discussed a wide range of health issues and identified locally driven solutions aimed at strengthening service delivery,” he said.
Boara said investing in community-based approaches would help bridge primary and secondary health care services and improve overall health outcomes.
He said collective efforts from all stakeholders would be essential in addressing the challenges facing the province’s health system.
The summit ended with renewed commitment from participants to work together to strengthen primary health care services and improve the wellbeing of communities throughout Western Province.
Photo credit: Ben Bilua
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