Sai Prema Foundation Director’s Dr Krupali Tappoo and Sumeet Tappoo with FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) Associate Dean Research Dr Donald Wilson Head of School Dentistry and Oral Health, Dr Osea Dukuno.

A new partnership has been inked between the Fiji National University (FNU) and the Sai Prema Foundation, which will enable FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) dental faculty and trainee dental students to provide free oral health services to underprivileged children currently awaiting cardiac surgery.

The Sai Prema Foundation, which is currently developing the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital Fiji located in Nasese, Suva, is committed to serving Fiji’s needy children by providing necessary health care and conducting heart surgeries free of cost.

Following the new collaborative partnership with FNU, the South Pacific’s first children’s heart hospital will also have dental services under its arm at the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Dental Centre. The Centre is expected to commence services in the coming months.

FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) Head of School Dentistry and Oral Health, Dr Osea Dukuno, said the new partnership would encourage and promote an exchange of ideas, expertise and knowledge in terms of oral health and medical services.

“The memorandum of understanding brings about service to the community as well as encourages partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations like Sai Prema Foundation. This partnership is to promote good oral health, including general health,” he mentioned.

FNU’s dental students will gain experience and exposure to clinical scenarios outside of their usual learning environment.

FNU has also provided a dental caravan to the Foundation, which was donated to the University by the Australian Rotary Foundation to assist students in their outreach programmes.

“I am grateful to SPF for agreeing to renovate the dental caravan and providing all the medications and consumables required for dental procedures. The mobile dental caravan has dental chairs, an x-ray machine and in-built equipment such as a compressor and portable suction units,” said Dr Dukuno.

Dr Donald Wilson and Sumeet Tappoo during the MOU signing.

Sai Prema Foundation Director, Sumeet Tappoo, said they had realised the need to have dental as part of their healthcare initiatives. He has acknowledged FNU for the collaboration on this initiative.

“We are extremely delighted to be forging this partnership with the Fiji National University, and we look forward to the fruition of this MOU when we begin the Sai Sanjeevani Dental Centre. This Dental Centre will be exclusively for children, and just like all our facilities, this Centre will not have a billing counter and all services will be completely free of cost,” said Tappoo.

Tappoo also spoke about the future of the collaboration between the two organisations and stated that there was tremendous scope to further the study of pediatric cardiology.

“We are also excited at the prospect of collaborating with the Fiji National University in the future on a number of other initiatives including exploring the incidence of Congenital Heart Disease among children in Fiji and the Pacific which is alarmingly high. The Hospital facility has already attracted keen interest from a number of international research organisations who will want to use this as a base to conduct further research of this disease. FNU coming on board through this Dental Centre is the first step towards many exciting times in the times ahead” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, Director of the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital, Dr Krupali Tappoo, stated that having the Children’s Dental Centre is an important arm of the Pediatric Hospital.

“Poor dental health is associated with an increased threat of developing heart disease. It increases the risk of bacterial infection in the bloodstream, which can affect the heart valves.”

“Through the Dental Centre, we will be able to conduct oral screenings on all children who are screened at the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre, children who are diagnosed with heart disease as well as children who will undergo surgery at the hospital,” said Dr Tappoo.