16 Apr 2014

Elective surgery on hold as Solomons struggles with diarrhoea outbreak

1:47 pm on 16 April 2014

The Solomon Islands main hospital has despatched staff to deal with a diarrhoea outbreak made worse by increases in dengue, flu and malaria following the recent floods.

The Acting Medical Superintendent at the National Referral Hospital, Dr Jagilly Rooney, says as result there are no longer doctors to carry out elective surgery.

Dr Rooney says all specialist doctors have to deal with the aftermath of the flooding.

"Basically our main problem now is we have an outbreak of diarrhoea and that has affected our services, particularly in the emergency department. So we have closed our specialist consultation clinic and set up specific areas to cater for patients who present with dengue and also look after diarrhoea cases."

The WHO is working with the National Laboratory to try and identify the cause of the diarrhoea outbreak.

Health authorities are calling for patience from those seeking medical attention and are advising the public to boil all drinking water.