Field Placement:  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Location: Fiji, Japan
Preceptor: Masako Kawamura and Nariaki Mikuni
Student Name: Mitchada Doi
Year: 2008

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a Japanese development agency which provides assistance to world’s poorest countries.  Through its Official Development Assistance (ODA), Japan has pledged to increase funding by $10 billion over a five-year period starting in 2005, particularly in Africa.  JICA itself, which provides technical assistance in more than 150 nations and regions, is also undergoing fundamental change.  As an Intern of JICA, I worked in health sector at the JICA Fiji office.  The 10-week field studies experience gave me the opportunity to learn about the principles and projects of the JICA Fiji office.  As a result, I could work in areas of public health which helped me grow as a public health professional and a citizen of the world. 

Under the direction of the program formulation advisor Ms. Kawamura and the Deputy Resident Representative Mr. Mikuni, I did my field studies following these objectives: 1) understand the current situation in the field of health sector in the Pacific region and the strategies for health promotion and disease prevention in the Ministry of Health in Fiji, 2) analyze the interim evaluation of JICA’s three projects related to In-Service Training of community health nurses, filariasis, and immunization, 3) understand the current situation of health care settings in Fiji, 4) examine the health problems in Fiji and analyze the causes and provisions for those health problems, and 5) assist in preparing the additional plan of the IST project in Tonga and Vanuatu.

I visited six hospitals, nine health centers, three nursing stations, five kindergartens, and other institutions during the field studies and conducted interviews with the health care personnel.  Fiji is short in health care workers, especially doctors, because most of them want to go abroad to earn more money.  Therefore, community health nurses play an important role in preventing diseases and promoting health for people.  Despite the efforts, Fiji has not been able to solve its health problems, including low immunization and Mass Drug Administration (MDA) coverage rate, increasing number of non-communicable diseases, and dental health issues.  To improve these health problems, the Fiji government will need to change people’s behavior using theories, get more money from budgets and donors, keep health care workers, and disseminate more information about diseases.

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