New season for health services in Vanuatu

In May 2013 a new service was born to provide vital health resources to the people of Northern Vanuatu. The Medical Santo health clinic has grown to become an essential and respected service that works closely with the Vanuatu Government and hospital in delivering health services and responding to natural disasters.

Chief Executive Officer Gary Edwards said the growth of the service and the impact it is having in its community has been exciting to see.

“The team at Medical Santo have truly brought the light of Christ into their community and delivered compassionate and skilled care, in what has often been challenging circumstances. They have operated in a country with limited access to the medical equipment and supplies we take for granted here in Australia. The impact they have had and the commitment and dedication shown by staff and the invaluable volunteers has been outstanding,” Gary said.

Now, Medical Santo has entered a new era, with the establishment of Pacific Island Health and Education Limited, an Australian-based charity to deliver the vital health services, education and training required in the island nation.

Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Island Health and Education, Gerry Weatherall, said the scope and need of the charitable health services provided by Medical Santo since opening had substantially increased.

“The founding members of Medical Santo have recognised over recent years that we needed to identify and address the risks impacting the sustainable future of the health services Medical Santo provides,” Gerry said.
“There is a need to further advance a major objective of Medical Santo in securing long-term sustainability of good health outcomes for the people of Northern Vanuatu. Achieving this necessarily requires the development of capability in education and training and importantly providing the infrastructure for long term employment in the medical, nursing and allied health fields.

“After much prayer, consultation with Vanuatu stakeholders, discussion with similar entities engaged in charitable activities overseas and legal representatives, the founders of Medical Santo decided to create an Australian registered company limited by guarantee.

“The founders wanted to ensure PIHEL would always be identified as a Christian Organisation that existed to fulfil the call of Jesus to minister to all in need and be recognised as having its roots in Queensland and Vanuatu Churches of Christ,” Gerry said.

The founders include Allen Cox, Gerry Weatherall, Richard Huston.

A dream fulfilled

In 2008 a casual discussion between two Church of Christ members, one from Vanuatu and one from Queensland, started a dream that grew into a remarkable project that only God could have planned.
Vanuatu is a close neighbour to Australia, and in the 1800s workers from Vanuatu were used on our sugarcane farms.

In the 1880s John Thompson provided medical assistance to these sugarcane workers in Queensland. By 1883, the Foreign Mission Committee of the Churches of Christ supported his work, and so began our commitment to supporting people from this island nation.

By 1980, through direct action and partnering with others, medical centres were established in Vanuatu. Following Vanuatu’s independence in the 1980s, the responsibility of medical facilities was handed over to the government of the new nation and, despite best efforts, the medical centres have faced many challenges.
The medical services were stretched to the limit, and the ni-Vanuatu people were suffering and dying from preventable illnesses. Church of Christ members in Vanuatu and Australia dreamed of being able to provide quality medical care services in Northern Vanuatu to help the people.

Medical Santo was born out of recognition of the long-standing relationship between the people of Vanuatu and Churches of Christ in Queensland, and a God-given conviction that something had to be done, and done urgently.

Responding to nature’s fury

For a small island nation in the middle of the South Pacific, Vanuatu bears the brunt of Nature’s fury at times, with cyclones, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions frequently devastating the archipelago.

Medical Santo provides vital medical support in response to these natural disasters. Working closely with the Ministry of Health, the service supports communities and displaced peoples with urgent medical care and supplies.

The clinic also works with the local hospital and the Vanuatu Government Ministry of Health to deliver education to local health workers. This service equips the local services with broader knowledge to be able to treat the multitude of health conditions prevalent in the community.

In April this year, the service again jumped into action after Cyclone Harold, a category 5 storm, devastated the country. On Monday 6 April, Cyclone Harold tore across Vanuatu, impacting more than half of the country’s population, and causing widespread destruction to houses, vegetation, and infrastructure, including water and electricity.

This devastation came as Vanuatu was already in a State of Emergency to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In this time of crisis Medical Santo provided vital medical care and assistance to families and children.

Outreaching, educating and responding

In the northern islands of Vanuatu, there are remote communities scattered throughout the jungle-filled terrain, many almost inaccessible, requiring long, slow four-wheel drive journeys along bumpy roads.

Medical Santo initiated outreach services to many remote communities to provide vital health care, running clinics and supporting people living with disability to access the services they need.

For some residents of these communities, their visit to the outreach clinic was the first time they have ever received medical attention.

Volunteers make it all possible

Without the support of volunteers from across the globe, Medical Santo would not be able to deliver the vital services.

In 2018-19, 108 volunteers gave their time to help at the clinic, including 41 doctors, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dentists and a  maxillofacial surgeon.

Ongoing support

Churches of Christ in Queensland will continue to support Medical Santo financially through PIHEL, promote this valuable work and encourage people to volunteer and financially assist this outreach. We look forward to this new phase of support to Medical Santo over the years ahead.
  Posted 25 June, 2020 in Networking blog