Vella La Vella Island, Solomon Islands
Duration: 24 months
Start Date: 1 July 2008
End Date: 30 June 2010
Donors: ADRA NZ
Location: Vella La Vella Island, Western Province, Solomon Islands
Beneficiaries: 12,670
Budget for 09/10 year: NZ$117,746
In the Solomon Islands, there are hundreds of remote and isolated areas, which do not have ready access to medical facilities or clinics. Many of these areas are only accessible by boat and might be several days’ journey from emergency medical facilities if such were available.
The Mobile Medical Health and Medical Service (MMHES) provide a fully appointed medical boat manned by trained staff that travel throughout the islands. This vessel is equipped with medical and surgical personnel and dispenses a variety of medical treatments and training sessions. The lifestyle training sessions are geared towards ensuring that residents can be cared for in their home communities by nurses who live and work locally.
ADRA NZ funds this programme in conjunction with the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health. This team approach has proved to be an effective way of combining economic and infrastructural resources to provide regular and reliable assessment, and medico-surgical treatments in areas where it would be uneconomic to maintain a full-time health-care presence.
