10 Nov 2005

Thousands of Fiji public servants reported to have diabetes and hypertension

9:12 am on 10 November 2005

More than half of Fiji's public servants are reported to have diabetes and hypertension, raising serious concerns about the future of the service.

The Fiji Times quotes the deputy secretary of the public service commission, Tom Lee, as saying 15,000 to 20,000 public servants are affected by the two diseases.

Mr Lee has told a workshop on non-communicable diseases in Suva that the 30,000 public servants make up one eighth of the country's working population.

He says the high incidence of the two diseases in the public service raises serious concerns about poor performance in the workplace.

The government is planning build a fitness centre for public servants and their immediate families next year.

This will be part of guidelines on stress and risk management, information on healthy consumption, smoking related diseases and problems related to kava and alcohol drinking.