Project Name：Strengthening Digital Healthcare for Community Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and COVID-19 in Fiji

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：Fiji

Project Description：

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Discussion Paper for the Regional Expert Consultations, entitled “Development of An Implementation Roadmap 2023–2030 for the Global Action Plan for The Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013–2030”, people living with or at risk of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are more susceptible to the risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, are among the most affected by the pandemic, and more frequently experience severe symptoms. Moreover, “Long COVID” is a term used to describe a syndromic, multisystemic condition that is estimated to impact the health and quality of life of up to 30% of people globally who have been infected with COVID-19. As the impact and prevalence of Long COVID is unknown in Fiji, efforts are needed to establish surveillance and case-management protocols.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Medical Service (MHMS), deaths from NCDs accounted for 86% of all deaths in Fiji. Hospitals and primary healthcare facilities collect and manage the data on NCDs and COVID-19 by excel sheet and that data is reported from hospitals and primary healthcare facilities to the COVID-19 incident management team (IMT). Although Fiji already has an NCD and the COVID-19 care model, they lack the integration of digital tools to collect patient data. Data is often duplicative and not readily available via medical records, often resulting in data not being captured and analyzed in a timely manner, which results in delayed decision making and inefficient case management.

Region：Asia-Pacific

Implementation Start Date：2024-05-10

Implementation End Date：2025-05-31

Project Objectives：

The objectives of this project are:

A. Establishing a digital tool for the patient tracking and case management of NCDs, COVID-19 and long COVID, producing an operating manual for the digital tool, and building human resource capacity to use it.

(A) Developing a digital tool (App) in coordination with the MHMS on a pilot phase and introducing to the selected sites.

(B) Arranging for two IT technicians to receive training as seed instructors for system management and maintenance.

(C) Developing operating manuals for the digital tool.

(D) Developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and health education materials on long COVID for the digital tool.

(E) Providing training on the use of long COVID SOPs and health education materials, to ensure personnel from primary healthcare facilities can use the technical content developed.

B. Promoting the digital tool to strengthen care capacity for NCDs, COVID-19 and long COVID at the primary healthcare community level.

(A) At least 70 personnel from primary healthcare facilities will join the trainings for the promotion of the digital tool for follow-up and management of community NCDs, COVID-19 & long COVID, and the TaiwanICDF or USAID will dispatch relevant personnel to conduct on-site visits.

(B) At least 70% of personnel from primary healthcare facilities who received the aforementioned trainings will access the digital tool for follow-up and management of community NCDs, COVID-19 and long COVID at least once per week, and at least 500 NCDs or COVID-19 & long COVID case items will be registered and managed.

(C) Ensuring sustainability of the digital tool through coordination and planning with MHMS.

a. Conducting a workshop following two months of the rollout stage to define future needs of the system.

b. Developing a sustainability plan to align with MHMS resources, personnel and data processing requirements.

c. Sharing progress and lessons learned within MHMS and other ministries in Fiji to support digital transformation initiatives in the country and region.

Executing Agency：

International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) / U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) / Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), Fiji / National Taiwan University Hospital Hisn-Chu Branch

Implementation Arrangement：

Members of the Project will provide technical assistance and assistance for capacity building.

Current Progress：

To the end of March 2025, the following activities have been carried out:

1. Developed a digital system named “SOVA NI BULA”, and coordinated with the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) to deploy and launch the system in four health centers. The system includes features such as case management, appointment scheduling, and health education, and ongoing system optimization continues.

2. Produced the second edition of the user manual for the digital tool, along with quick-start guides tailored for different types of users.

3. Selected and trained two seed instructors in system management and maintenance, and held 13 training sessions covering server fundamentals, third-party server setup, server room installation, production server configuration, network and firewall settings, automatic data backup to NAS, and hard drive expansion. Additionally, IT staff were trained to write data entry scripts, and supported temporary staff in converting paper records into digital form.

4. Completed the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and health education materials for long COVID.

5. Organized 10 system training workshops and 1 user feedback session, with a total of 142 participants, and also provided on-site outpatient training for 10 new users.

6. The system has recorded 11,046 patient records and supported 5,651 patients through the clinical consultation process.

7. Organized the “National Digital Health Technical Consultation Workshop,” attended by 64 participants, including the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) of Fiji, as well as representatives from WHO, UNICEF, JICA, and local healthcare professionals.

Project Performance：

Strengthened capacity on primary healthcare worker in NCD, COVID-19 and Long COVID patient tracking and case management.

Project Contact：Yu-Chien Chang

Phone：(02)2873-2323#6068

E-mail：yu.c.chang@icdf.org.tw

Signing Date：2024-05-10

Cooperating Stakeholders：U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) / Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), Fiji / National Taiwan University Hospital Hisn-Chu Branch

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Fiji