Fiji health officials warn of rising diabetes amputations amid reliance on traditional cures

Fiji faces a growing crisis with diabetes-related amputations, as a significant number of patients opt for herbal and faith-based healing over timely medical intervention. Health officials report that about 70 percent of surgeries performed nationwide are linked to diabetes complications. This trend persists despite ongoing educational campaigns.

The Assistant Minister for Health, Penioni Ravunawa, pointed to cultural factors, including Fiji's communal system, which often leads people to rely on traditional remedies. Patients frequently seek hospital care only at advanced stages of their illness, exacerbating the severity of complications.

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Unfortunately, with our communal system also in Fiji, we tend to rely on herbal medicine and other faith beliefs. That is something that people resort to and then only come into the hospital at the late stage of their diabetic complication.

Fiji is experiencing a high rate of amputations, with 3 to 5 lower limb amputations occurring daily for diabetic patients. Recent data indicates that approximately 90,300 adults, or about 16.6 percent of the adult population, live with diabetes. This translates to one in every six adults being affected.

To address this, Ravunawa stressed the critical role of community-level education. Over 220 village health workers are tasked with educating residents on essential health practices, including diet, physical activity, and adequate rest. Authorities continue to urge the public to prioritize professional medical care and seek treatment early to manage diabetes effectively.

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We have over 220 village health workers all across the country, and their work is to educate the villagers, the people in the settlement, in the community to take care of their own health, meaning their diet choice, their physical exercise, their rest time, all that is important.