Retired Midwives Return From Samoa

Meresimani Kauata was among a team of 10 retired senior Fijian midwives who returned yesterday after spending 10 weeks in Samoa, supporting maternal health during the measles epidemic.

The retired medical professionals continue to passionately deliver their services in times of need.

The Samoa government had declared a state of emergency on November 15, 2019, to respond to the measles epidemic.

The epidemic had strained health service provision, diverting critical resources away from other non-measles essential services, in a bid to scale-up vaccination of target population and treatment services for existing measles patients.

Ms Kauata, 62, who hails from Nakalavo in Nadroga has spent 35 years in the service before retiring in 2014.

“Going to Samoa was an opportunity to witness the measles epidemic and put our midwifery profession to good use, even after retiring,” she said.

Urmila Kumar, 60, from Sigatoka who retired in 2014 continues to re-engage her services from time to time at the Sigatoka Hospital.

Over the years, she has helped medical response teams during times of disasters.

In early 2015, she was part of a team who went to Vanuatu during Tropical Cyclone Pam and again to Tonga in mid-2018 during Cyclone Gita.

“I feel very happy to be part of this team. I am the only Indo-Fijian women who were part of this. The Samoans assisted us, despite the language barriers, but the way we do our work in Fiji and Samoa are different.”

This deployment was supported by the Ministry of Health Fiji in collaboration with the Nursing Council of Fiji.

It was fully funded by #UNFPA and implemented through the existing Emergency Medical Team platform co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation in Samoa.

Edited by Caroline Ratucadra

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