THE Minister for Health and Medical Services (MHMS) Dickson Mua says the SBD$44million provided by the Australian government would benefit all the provinces including Honiara.
Mua said that a huge chunk of Solomon Island’s population is in the rural areas and that the aim is to bring the benefits to everyone by way of improving their capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Improving the laboratory and other health services is quite important in our preparation towards COVID-19,” he said.
He said the health assistance would also include church-run hospitals in rural areas.
Permanent Secretary Pauline Boseto McNeil earlier said that all other provincial health facilities would be looked at including those that have not been addressed to date including Tulagi Hospital in the Central Islands Province and Buala Hospital in Isabel Province.
McNeil said the government would also want to go beyond provincial hospitals to the rural health centres such as Manuapo in the reef islands, Atoifi in Malaita province, and other church-run hospitals in the country.
In signing off the funding assistance on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Jeremiah Manele said that $43.7 million of the $71 million would be spent on the health sector’s COVID-19 response.
By IAN M.KAUKUI
