Health pay tops priority in upcoming budget

Proper remuneration for frontline medical staff is one of the Health Minister's top priorities in the upcoming national budget.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu said securing full funding for salaries, allowances and overtime in the 2026-2027 National Budget was critical to keeping the country's hospitals running effectively.

The move aims to address severe staff shortages and ongoing disruptions within Fiji's public health system.

"Our main priority right now is to ensure that remunerations are fully covered, especially overtime and allowances.

"We see that if overtime is not covered or is under-budgeted, then we tend to face a lot of disruptions in the environment. So that is one of my main requests, apart from other major priorities within the ministry," Dr Lalabalavu said.

Fiji's health system has been affected by the migration of nurses and doctors to higher-paying jobs in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The ministry hopes the Government will provide realistic funding for workers at major facilities such as the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva to help prevent workforce burnout and retain staff.

In the 2025-2026 National Budget, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services was allocated $465.6 million to fund salaries for doctors, nurses and allied health workers, procure medicines and biomedical equipment, and support the upgrade and maintenance of hospitals and health centres nationwide.