02 Jul 2010 Additional gas cylinders for Weathercoast clinics [Solomon Star]

World Vision has donated 11 gas cylinders to Guadalcanal Province's health department for the clinics on the Weathercoast. Gas is used to power refrigerators to keep vaccines cool. So far, the clinics had only one cylinder and whenever it was empty the freezer stopped working while the cylinder was away to be refilled in Honiara.

02 Jul 2010 Taiwanese team to run medical workshops [Solomon Star]

A doctor and four medical students from the Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) in Taiwan are currently in the country to promote public hygiene and and women's health care. They will run several workshops for disease prevention at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara and a one-week workshop at one local primary school for personal and environmental hygiene. The team will be here for one month.

06 Jul 2010 Funds for Atoifi Hospital [Solomon Star]

During a fundraising concert for Atoifi Hospital (Malaita Province), the Solomon Islands Government pledged SBD 50,000 (in addition to this year's contribution of more than SBD 150,000 for the School of Nursing) and the Malaita Government SBD 20,000. The funds will be used to buy new equipment and refurbish some of the buildings. Atoifi Hospital and the associated School of Nursing are administered by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

08 Jul 2010 Introducing Tippy Taps to Solomon Islands [Solomon Star]

Soroptimist International, Solomon Islands, has introduced Tippy Taps to Solomon Islands to promote hand-washing. Tippy Taps are simple and economical setups made from recycled material to wash hands with very little water (see pdf document [660KB] from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The first Tippy Taps were built in Zimbabwe using gourds.

15 Jul 2010 Suspected whooping cough cases at NRH [Solomon Star]

Four infants between one and five months of age with typical symptoms have been treated for whooping cough at the children ward of the National Referral Hospital in Honiara in the past three weeks. One infant is still at the children's ward for observation while the others have been discharged. Blood samples have been sent Australia for confirmation and results are expected to be available in about four weeks. These would be the first cases of whooping cough after many years.

22 Jul 2010 Second dispensary window at NRH [Solomon Star]

The National Referral Hospital in Honiara now has a second dispensary window. It is used to hand out medications for infants and the elderly and, together with an increase in staff, has significantly reduced the waiting time for those and other patients. According to a letter to the editor of Solomon Star, such a second window was proposed by managers of the pharmacy already ten years ago.

23 Jul 2010 More beds for NRH [Solomon Star]

The Health Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Solomon Islands, assisted by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has donated 14 beds and 16 mattresses to the National Referral Hospital in Honiara. The beds will be distributed to the medical, postnatal and children's wards.

27 Jul 2010 New on our web site

Another filled in questionnaire: FS1002.

28 Jul 2010 Honiara children clinic opened [Solomon Star]

The Honiara children clinic has finally been completed and officially opened. Starting next week, the clinic will initially be open for eight hours a day (Monday to Friday), but next year it should be open 24 hours. Ten staff have been allocated to the clinic.

29 Jul 2010 Australian medical team visits Solomon Islands [Solomon Times]

Currently, an Australian ENT (ear, nose and throat) team is visiting Solomon Islands to perform surgical operations, speech pathology and audiology examinations. Last week they have been working at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara and this week at Gizo Hospital. The team members are volunteers; travel expenses and accommodation are covered by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and AusAID as part of the Pacific Islands Project.

More such teams are expected to visit Solomon Islands later this year: a neurosurgery team in August and a pediatric and a radiology team in November.

31 Jul 2010 Australian High Commission staff donate blood [SIBC News]

The office staff of the Australian High Commission in Honiara have donated blood to the blood bank at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, which is always looking for donors.

02 Aug 2010 Loloma Foundation team to visit soon [Solomon Star]

An 18-member medical team from Loloma Foundation will offer free medical services at Gizo Hospital (Western Province) from September 1 to 11.

They will bring along donated medical supplies worth USD 1.5 million for the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, Gizo Hospital and some island clinics.

07 Aug 2010 Crutches for the hospitals [Solomon Star]

As part of a rehabilitation program of the Correctional Service of Solomon Islands (CSSI), prisoners at the Rove Correction Center in Honiara are making (wooden) crutches for the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara, Kilu'ufi Hospital in the Malaita Province and Lata Hospital in the Temotu Province.

More than 70 sets were made for the National Referral Hospital in Honiara since 2008. The production is limited due to the lack of a joinery workshop and a limited supply of materials.

10 Aug 2010 Parasite screening program continued [Island Sun]

A five member medical team from Taiwan is here for a few days to continue the parasite screening program started in May and followed up in November last year. Together with the leader of the Taiwan Health Center at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, the team will again visit schools and villages to check up on the prevalence of infections with intestinal parasites. Furthermore, they will prepare a management plan for the treatment and the necessary education to reduce and eventually eradicate those infections.

They will also hold a workshop for doctors at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara about diagnosis and management of intestinal parasites.

10 Aug 2010 Worth reading

An Australian soldier is helping out at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara.

Jeremy Pearce - Wollongong Warrior published in Solomon Star (News, Tuesday, 10 August 2010).

11 Aug 2010 Second whooping cough test [Solomon Star]

After the first whooping cough test turned out to be negative, blood samples taken two weeks after the first have been sent to Australia again for a confirmation test.

12 Aug 2010 New on our web site

Another report written by Dr Alex Bradley Munamua: Being Super In Your Own Way. A pdf version is available here.

13 Aug 2010 Miss Solomon Airlines donates blood [Solomon Star]

Miss Solomon Airlines, Simaema Nielsen, has donated blood to the blood bank at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara.

Currently, the blood bank receives between two and six donations a day, however, some 15 to 20 donations would be needed to meet the demand.

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