27 April 2019 | Sulieni Layt | Pasifika Media
Brisbane, AUSTRALIA: The Kingdom’s Vaiola Hospital has benefited from the generous donation of a Zeiss Microscope from Brisbane-based members of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
The Pacific Islands Project was founded in 1995 and has changed and adapted over the years in response to the changing needs and priorities in each Pacific country. What originated as a program focused on service provision by visiting clinical teams has evolved to provide education and capacity building across the region to address priorities identified by Pacific surgeons and medical leaders.
The Brisbane Tongan Community (BTC) were thrilled to provide assistance with logistics and consultation with Logan Hospital under the auspices of the Pacific Islands Project in consultation with Associate Professor Bernard Whitfield from Queensland Health’s Department of Otolaryngology.
BTC President, Reverend Maile Molitika, led a delegation of committee members to inspect the Zeiss Microscope at Queensland Health’s Logan Hospital prior to its careful packaging in preparation for the long sea journey to the Friendly Islands.
Dr Leiukamea Saafi of the Biological Engineering Section for the ENT Theatre at Vaiola Hospital together with ENT surgeon Dr Sepiuta Lopati will await the arrival of Associate Professor Whitfield who is scheduled to conduct specific training on the ground at Vaiola Hospital in June 2019.
Reverend Maile Molitika said, “the microscope comes as a huge benefit for the Tongan people to help improve health services offered by Tonga’s Department of Health.”
“The Brisbane Tongan Community are grateful to Professor Whitfield and the Pacific Island Project of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for their generosity and willingness to assist Vaiola Hospital as this will truly benefit the people of the Kingdom of Tonga,” Reverend Maile Molitika added.
The Zeiss microscope weighs in at approximately 180 kgs and the dimensions are 70 cm x 70 cm and 180 cm tall.
The Pacific Island Project of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons also funded its delicate transportation from Brisbane, Australia to the Kingdom of Tonga by container ship.
The Kingdom of Tonga is one of eleven Pacific nations included in the program. The program is supported by the Australian Government and works in partnership with national counterparts, including health professionals and hospitals to assist Pacific Ministries of Health to improve the health of their populations.
For more information, please visit their website at https://www.surgeons.org/for-the-public/racs-global-health/pacific-island-countries/.