Fiji eyes Pacific healthcare hub role

Fiji must strengthen its specialist medical services and pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities to become a healthcare hub for the Pacific, says Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu.

Opening the inaugural two-day Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH) Hospitals Scientific Conference at Shangri-La Yanuca Island resort in Sigatoka last Saturday, Dr Lalabalavu called for stronger public-private partnerships to improve access to advanced medical treatment.

He said Fiji’s reliance on imported medicines highlighted the need to develop local pharmaceutical manufacturing to meet domestic and regional demand.

“I have always supported the idea of having pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities in Fiji, not only for our own needs but also for our neighbouring Pacific Island countries,” he said.

Dr Lalabalavu said Government could not deliver every healthcare service alone and welcomed private sector investment in specialist treatment, advanced medical equipment and professional training.

He said Government’s Strategic Plan 2026–2031 provided a roadmap for strengthening healthcare, focusing on disease prevention, improved hospital services and access to specialised treatment closer to home.

Developing Fiji as a specialist healthcare centre would also benefit neighbouring Pacific countries, whose patients often travelled overseas for complex medical procedures.

Meanwhile, PSH founder and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar said healthcare should never be a privilege reserved for the wealthy.

“Healthcare should never be a privilege reserved for the wealthy. It should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances,” he said.

Mr Kumar said PSH was established on three pillars: inclusive healthcare for Fiji and the Pacific, advancing medical technology and developing human resources, and promoting universal health coverage.

He said the vision began more than a decade ago when he and several friends met 10 medical specialists in Fiji to discuss establishing a hospital staffed, managed and operated locally.

Those specialists remained with PSH, he said.

Mr Kumar said the hospital aimed to complement the public healthcare system rather than compete with it. It had invested in specialist services, including neurosurgery and open-heart surgery, to enable complex procedures to be performed locally.

He credited cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey’s expertise in developing the hospital’s cardiac surgery programme, citing a reported 98 per cent success rate.

Mr Kumar said advanced equipment alone was insufficient without skilled professionals. PSH had therefore collaborated with Fiji National University and the University of Fiji to strengthen medical education and clinical training.

PSH’s pharmaceutical venture, Pratima Pharmaceuticals, is expected to begin operations in mid-December, with plans to manufacture 25 medicines locally and pursue research into herbal medicine.

The conference also supports professional development and medical research. PSH launched its journal, Apotheosis, in collaboration with FCGP.

Mr Kumar said the hospital’s ultimate measure of success was not the technology it possessed, but the lives it could improve and save.