‘We can be strong enough to show a person that living with HIV does not define who we are or what we may have done in our pasts’ were the opening words delivered by Joeli Colati, a HIV survivor at the School of Nursing World Aids Day celebration. 

Education through art is the focus of the Sokota art.health.wellness exhibition which is an initiative of the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences [CMNHS]. Speaking that the exhibition launch last week, Dr. Tukana – National NCD Advisor, Ministry of Health said that ‘with the rise in non-communicable diseases [NCDs], we just cannot be treating people so what better way to educate than through art’.

The need for a cleft lip / palate database was the main focus at discussions during the Cleft Program Workshop that was recently jointly organized by the Ministry of Health and the Dental department of the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences. 

The rise in deaths resulting from Non-Communicable Disease [NCD’s] is a growing concern in Fiji and the Pacific. To address the problem of NCD’s, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding to renew the ROK-PIF Cooperation Fund from 2011 – 2013.

Studying away from home may be challenging but for third year Bachelor of Dental Surgery student Rachel Gladys of Solomon Islands, this builds her character. Rachel was busy attending to patients at the Fiji National University's Wellness Village at the Hibiscus Festival, when we caught up with her.