The Samoa government has started to look at ways of tackling the increasing numbers of patients seeking medical treatment overseas.
Samoa Observer reports Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said, in a press conference, that the Ministry of Health has been tasked with providing a plan that will allow more people to get treatment under the same budgetary allocation and not necessarily at overseas facilities.
The government approved an additional $4 million tālā for the overseas medical scheme in March this year, on top of the allocated $8 million tālā in the 2021-2022 budget that was used up before the end of the financial year.
One option the PM spoke of, is an agreement with a cardiologist clinic in Fiji which can assess, screen, diagnose and operate on patients in Fiji. Her hope is that this service can be done in Samoa.
Fiame said, the Tupua Tamasese Meaole hospital has to have the capacity and be well equipped in order to have the service available locally where more people can be treated.
She also spoke of possible assistance from the Samoa Medical Association of New Zealand.
