I Did Not Hesistate To Answer MoH Call: Dental Hygienist

Lautoka Hospital Dental Hygienist Vilikesa Saturu did not hesitate to join the Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team (FEMAT) when he received a call on May 13.

The Tavualevu native said he returned with his wife and four children to Lautoka in 2016.

They were there until he was called for duty to the Lautoka Field Hospital during this COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was called by the FEMAT field administration to join them as Lautoka Hospital was under lockdown,” Mr Saturu said.

“I did not hesitate or turned down their request.”

The Dental Hygienist said he may have dedicated 21 years of his life to this profession but credited his commitment in the field of medicine to his uncle- a former Health Inspector.

He said his uncle Jope Sadranu was a Health Inspector for the Western Division in the 1970s before retiring in 2005.

“My uncle now 71 years old was a civil servant.

He started as an Assistant Health Inspector in Levuka and made his way up until he was a Divisional Health Inspector.

“He always told me to be diligent and faithful in whatever task you are assigned to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, after graduating from the Fiji School of Medicine in 1998, Mr Saturu worked at the Ba Dental Clinic for seven years.

He was later transferred to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in 2006 and was there for three years.

In 2007 he was transferred to the Valelevu Dental Department until 2010 and in 2012 joined Raiwaqa Health Centre new dental clinic and worked there for two years before returning to CWM Hospital in 2014.

He was also part of a Western Health Yasawa tour for three weeks and conducted school visits and community outreach in the interior of Ba.

“That is why I am used to this kind of work whenever there is a call of duty,” he added.

Edited by Losirene Lacanivalu

Feedback: salote.qalubau@fijisun.com.fj