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TaiwanICDF Assists Princess Margaret Hospital in Tuvalu to Set Up Its First Fruit and Vegetable Garden to Improve Inpatient Nutrition and Health
The International Cooperation and Development Fund has established the Friendship Garden in Funafuti and the Hope Garden in Vaitupu to increase the production of fruits and vegetables and promote the concept of healthy eating in Tuvalu. These two gardens are the only source of fresh fruits and vegetables in Tuvalu, yield nearly 60 tons of fresh produce per year, and are popular among local residents.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuvalu has been in lockdown since late March 2020. Tuvalu's only hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), has been unable to refer critically ill patients to medical institutions abroad for medical care and patient numbers are increasing. In order to provide comprehensive nutritional care for patients, the hospital commissioned the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) in September to help establish a hospital garden to provide patients with a reliable source of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Since PMH is close to the lagoon, the available ground space is limited and susceptible to tropical cyclones. Thus, TTM set up double-layered cultivation beds to ensure sunshine and fruit growth are not affected by strong winds. The hospital has employed additional horticultural workers and TTM has provided vegetable seedlings, compost and cultivation guidance for free. To date, crops with lower technical thresholds such as cabbages and cucumbers have been planted. TTM will gradually train the horticultural workers in technical skills to supply a diversity of fresh fruits and vegetables for the inpatients.
The technical team also cooperated with the hospital's nutritionists to promote healthy diet concepts and demonstrate cooking, so that patients can understand the importance of a balanced diet during their hospitalization. The TaiwanICDF and PMH hope patients can maintain good dietary habits of eating fruits and vegetables after being discharged from the hospital, and look forward to working together to improve the nutrition and health of the people of Tuvalu.
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- Update: 2020/11/04
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