Digital health

THE article on “digital health” by Naleen Nageshwar (14/3) was a wonderful read, and I hope the Ministry of Health has taken note of how it could improve health services for everyone in Fiji, especially ‘marginalised folk’.

I was particularly impressed by the reference to language, and the proposal that any patient could arrange for medical services “in their own language”.

While many civil servants do indeed talk to people they serve in the vernaculars when possible, Fiji is way behind other countries in the use of the vernaculars in official communication.

New Zealand and Australia have probably more government notices, forms etc in Fijian than does the government of Fiji.

This was understandable with the previous government, which laboured under the delusion that “everyone in Fiji speaks English”. Even under the much-maligned colonial government, civil servants who passed exams in Fijian and Hindi were given increments.

So I look forward to a government that increasingly serves the people in the languages of the people. This will not be easy, for at least three reasons.

One is that people have been used to being linguistically disenfranchised, and do not realise that the constitutions (any of them) forbid discrimination on the grounds of language.

Another is that the education system at present does not teach people to use their vernaculars in official communication, concentrating largely on archaisms.

Finally, there will be resistance from some civil servants themselves, who have attained their prestigious positions by being literate in English, and spend much of their time filling in forms and writing letters for their friends and kin. If communication with officialdom was available in Fijian and Fiji Hindi, their prestige would plummet — but on the other hand, they would have more time to do their jobs! PAUL GERAGHTY

USP, Suva

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