Urgent call for a real-time digital health system

One of the greatest challenges in addressing diabetes in Fiji is the lack of reliable and real-time data, says Diabetes Fiji Incorporation executive director Marawa Kini.

He said the health information unit continues to face underreporting and limited interoperability between systems.

He explained that this creates significant barriers to planning, funding, service delivery and evaluation.

“Without data, we are flying blind as you all know that data is the heartbeat of healthcare,” Mr Kini said. “Without it, there is no clear understanding of the burden, no accurate tracking of progress, no accountability for outcomes and no direction for resource allocation.”

He is calling upon the Government to invest in building an integrated, transparent and digital health information system that can provide real-time monitoring of diabetes and other Non-Communicable Diseases. Furthermore, he said Fiji must build local research capacity.

He claims that international researchers often conduct studies here in Fiji and leave without real benefit to communities or systems.

“This must change, let’s empower our tertiary institutions, public health researchers and local communities to lead the research that reflects our reality, not someone else’s hypothesis,” he said.

“In Fiji over one in three amputations are due to diabetes; Fiji records approximately 1,200 amputations every year, a figure that continues to rise. Thousands are undiagnosed and living with silent complications.”

He said despite clear evidence, diabetes continues to be sidelined.

“There is no national diabetes registry, limited public education, inconsistent supplies of essential medications and a growing shortage of trained professionals for diabetes foot care and complications,” he said.

“Our hospitals are overwhelmed with avoidable complications, and yet we still focus our investments on tertiary care, instead of primary health care and public health infrastructure, where prevention and early intervention occur. We are investing in ambulances to bring the dying to hospital, when we should be building the systems to keep them alive in the first place.”

He said now was the time we see diabetes not just as a medical condition, but as a national crisis that requires political commitment, strategic investment and multisectoral collaboration.

An email sent to Ministry of Health and Medical Services seeking clarification and recommendation on the above claims last Thursday remained futile till this edition went to the press.