Primary Health Care Goes Giddy Up?

Written by Pio Sioa
Sunday, 08 June 2008
Seeing and listening to the Prime Minister lay down the challenge for the doctors to pay more attention to accelerating public health care in the country, tickled the cynical bone almost beyond control. There he was telling the same doctors, well most of them any, who complained about poor salaries only a year or so ago, to put more muscle into Primary Health Care. We have goals to be met folks …go..go...go. No slacking around you hear. We need the people to be healthy and to stay healthy. Wow, how about that! Okay so the 3 year incremental salary spread has since given the doctors a few extra tala in the pocket, but has it soothed the blistered scars on all those protesting feet that paraded along beach road for a pay rise? Maybe that explains why some of them, especially the younger ones, appear to walk gingerly when doing their rounds. The veterans have long developed layers of callused soles under their feet there is no need for them to check where or what they walk on anymore. They are the go with the flow folks. Some of course may have limped off to join the private sector and inadvertently become part of a greater irony that threatens the onset of a snickering attack orchestrated by the cynical bone. From what the past SMA President, Lemalu Dr. Limbo was saying yesterday, primary health care could be speeded up if private doctors or General Practitioners are brought into the picture. Non emergency surgery on things like hernia, where the crown jewels swell into balloons, can easily be done by GPs to help ease the backlog and ensure that the health service is delivered quicker to the public. Other primary health care for common non communicable diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure can also be farmed out to the GPs and other health services available, outside the main public health hospital. The waiting does not have to be long either to see the doctors when they hold clinics. Certainly the GPs are eager to offer their services, but as the new SMA President, Dr. Ben Matalavea has said, people cannot afford the doctors fees. So now we have a strange dilemma. ‘And the horse went giddy up’ says Tofiga Fepulea’i, but in this case without the bragging uncle from Samoa unable to advantage of the opportunity. So the moral of the story is that Dr. Matalavea and other fellow GPs are ready to giddy up the primary health care needs of the public, but the public is prevented from taking advantage of the opportunity what then? So once again we are faced with another dilemma! The GPs have already worked out their minimum charges enough to earn a living and to care for their families, unfortunately it is beyond the pockets of many, who are then forced to seek the affordable services of the public hospital. Now we are back to Tofiga and his giddy up horse. Dr. Matalavea suggested that Government should subsidise the GPs charges. So far that is not happening. What next? Former NPF boss, Papalii Panoa Moala tried to push for a health insurance policy last year as a possible solution, but that was shelved and continues to remain shelved. What then? With goals to be met and Tofiga’s giddy up horse trotting round and round, what real moral is involved in all this primary health care drive the PM wants the doctors to speed up? Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed Budget commentary please written by Olo, June 08, 2008 Could this newspaper please report something or analyse the budget that was tabled in parliament on 30 May 2008? It is a very important document for the country for the next year, but it is getting scant recognition by this newspaper. For those overseas people, the budget can be downloaded from the Ministry of Finance website www.mof.gov.ws - faafetai EDS NOTE: Yes we have provided coverage of the budget. If it is an extensive coverage you want I can guarantee before this budget is approved it will be thoroughly debated. Thank you, by the way, for pointing our readers out to the budget website. Appreciate your support. Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Monday, 09 June 2008 )

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