Fijian Health Minister Ratu Atonio admits that the country's main hospital "is not in the very best of condition". Photo: Doctors Assisting in South Pacific Islands
The Fijian Health Ministry has confirmed that two operating theatres at the country's main hospital in Suva were forced to close after a blocked drainage caused wastewater spillage.
On Monday, the Fiji Sun alleged that "raw sewage had spilled into operating theatres, crippling surgical services and putting patients' lives at risk".
In a front-page article, the national newspaper cited allegations that people had died waiting for treatment because four out of eight operating theatres were not functioning.
"Two more are down because of sewage spilling into the theatre, the latest was last Monday. Renovations keep dragging - first June 2024, then December, then mid-2025, and now December 2025, which will likely be missed again," the Fiji Sun quoted a source as saying.
RNZ Pacific contacted the Fiji Health Minister Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, health secretary Jemesa Tudravu, and the Health Ministry headquarters in Suva on Tuesday, but received no response.
However, in a public advisory, the Health Ministry said the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) closed two two operating rooms on Monday last week "due to a sluice wastewater spillage, and not raw sewage as alleged by media reports".
"A blockage in the emergency department had caused the spillage of wastewater in the East Wing operating rooms on Monday, November 3. Unfortunately, this was caused by a blocked drainage in the shared sluice room," the advisory stated.
The ministry's maintenance team reacted swiftly to clear the blockage. This was followed by the hospital's infection prevention and control team cleaning and disinfecting the affected areas, and a private cleaning company was then engaged to deep clean the operating theatre.
The advisory said the cleaning process was completed on Tuesday, and the ministry expects the operating rooms to be operational on Wednesday.
"We ensured that patient care continued uninterrupted," it said.
"These problems stem from the hospital's outdated structure and will be fully addressed once the long-waited major refurbishment is completed," the advisory added.
In June, Fiji government allocated FJ$600 million (approx. NZ$480m) to the health sector in the 2025/2026 budget in its efforts to salvage the crippling health infrastructure.
Fijian Health Minister Ratu Atonio Photo: Facebook / Ministry of Health & Medical Services
In a separate statement on Tuesday, Health Minister Ratu Atonio admitted that "our hospital is not in the very best of condition".
While he did not address the specific allegations in the Fiji Sun's report, he called on "keyboard warriors and the general public" to share "credible and factual" information about the condition of the country's largest hospital.
He said any government would try its best to improve the state of its healthcare system, and that is what the current coalition government is trying to do.
"All I ask is that you all try and get factual news because lately bad news seems to sell well," he said.
"Rome was not built in a day and we will continue to try and improve our healthcare system."
