Supplied Content
Suva, Fiji, October 5, 2021
The Fiji Red Cross Society has gifted Covid-19 hygiene kits and pulse oximeters to the Ministry of Health as its service to the people of Fiji in their fight against the pandemic.
The supply included 1800 Covid-19 hygiene kits containing washing soap, disinfectant wipes, PPEs, IEC materials, communication support items and 1800 pulse oximeters.
Solidarity and Support
The Fiji Red Cross Director General Ilisapeci Rokotunidau handed over the supplies to Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete at a brief ceremony held in Suva on October 4, 2021.
Present at the event were Katie Greenwood, Head of Delegation, Country Cluster Delegation for the Pacific at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and officials of the Health Ministry.
Ms Rokotunidau said that the fight against Covid-19 does not fall on the shoulders of the Health Ministry alone but on everyone.
“The Fiji Red Cross is proud to work in solidarity with the Ministry of Health as they continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our volunteers have been working to help those most at risk to get access to the lifesaving Covid-19 vaccine and hence it is critical that we get as many Fijians vaccinated as possible if we want to beat this virus,” she said.
Critical equipment
Acknowledging the supply, Mr Waqainabete said that Pulse Oximeters are critical equipment in the fight against the Covid pandemic.
“Covid-19 is primarily a respiratory disease and having the right tools to measure tissue perfusion and oxygen levels, and pick up early warning signs are critical,” he said.
Pulse oximeters are used to measure oxygen levels within the body and to monitor the health of individuals with respiratory illnesses.
Mr Waqainabete said that pulse oximeters assist in monitoring positive cases, ensuring that they do not become severe within their period of recovery.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Fiji Red Cross Society provided communication support items in the form of mobile handsets to be used at the Covid-19 facilities for patients who may wish to contact their families, as a part of the FRCS Restoring Family Links Programme.
The Covid-19 hygiene kits also assist in the proper management of home-based isolated cases to maintain the safer isolation and care of positive cases, without affecting existing members of the same household.
The Fiji Red Cross Society (FRCS) has been working with the Fijian Health Ministry since the outbreak in April this year and has been supporting the national Covid-19 Response since March 2020. FRCS volunteers have been assisting health workers around the country with vaccine registrations, screening, data verification and Blood drive support.
