People awaiting General Practitioners scheme that was due to roll out in January this year

People living in the peri‑urban areas, towns and local communities and rural and remote parts of the country will be hoping that General Practitioners start practicing in their areas under the new government scheme.

This was an initiative announced in the 2018/2019 National Budget and the first trial rollout was supposed to be in January this year.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had said they want to give the people the ability to easily and conveniently see a General Practitioner to be consulted on their health and to access basic medical services.

He had said if it is a more complex matter, or serious health emergency, then Fijians should rely on the public health facilities, but they shouldn’t have to make that journey and wait in line for simple health check‑ups and treatments.

He had said they were seeking to create a new sector, a strong private GP sector in Fiji by offering a comprehensive package of incentives.

Sayed-Khaiyum had highlighted that this will include guaranteed income based on the number of patients they are assigned to serve, with additional financial assistance provided to GPs who set‑up in deep rural and maritime areas that are a distance away from our public health network.

The Ministry of Health was also allocated $5 million dollars in the 2018/2019 budget for the new initiative of Parenthood Assistance Payment.

This was for Fijian mothers from families with a household income below $30,000, where they will get a $1000. 

This was intended to assist Fijian families by easing the financial burden of parenthood and meeting the needs of the new born baby.

This initiative is expected to continue. 

They also received an increase of $13.9 million dollars in the 2018/2019 National Budget and it was mainly attributed to the expansion and upgrade of existing health facilities, construction of new facilities, equipping all health facilities in the country with modern medical equipment.

$2 million was also set aside fund the operation of the new Kidney Treatment Centres in Suva and Nadi.

The Ministry of Health received $335 million dollars in the 2018/2019 National Budget.

Meanwhile, the $3.5 million renovation works on the Nadi Hospital is expected to be completed by August this year.

The work at the new $30M Navosa Hospital at Keiyasi that will benefit over 10,000 Fijians is still on going and expected to finish later this year.

Stay with FijiVillage for continuous updates and coverage as to how the 2019/2020 National Budget affects you. We will tell you which taxes and duties go up or down and how the government services will be rolled out in the new financial year from August 1st. You can also check out the live video coverage and updates of the budget on our website www.fijivillage.com and Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fijivillage/

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