The World Health Organisation office in Solomon Islands has cautioned authorities not to allow the Covid-19 pandemic to impede other pressing medical issues.
The WHO's Dr Yogesh Choudhri giving a presentation about the Covid-19 pandemic Photo: Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Local WHO technical advisor, Yogesh Choudri, said it was critically imperative that a balance be struck between Covid-19 and other health priorities.
The Island Sun reported that Dr Choudri mentioned Non-Communicable Diseases and immunisation as areas that still needed services and could not afford to suffer at the hands of a response to Covid-19.
He admitted it was a testing time for the country but warned the government and its health partners should be careful and remain concerned about an NCD-affected population.
Dr Choudri said there was a high risk of mortality among people with NCDs when it came to the coronavirus.
The Permanent Secretary of Health, Pauline McNeil, said "the issue of NCD is a surge and [we] will have rooms available but if there is surge of diabetic cases than obviously, we have to look for other options in terms of the space."
"So, for the NCD currently the hospital has more than 300 beds in the National Referral Hospital and we are on emergency mode but obviously we also realise that our normal services need to continue to run at the normal functions," McNeil said.