Once again, the medical staff of this country are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that all obligations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings are met. They did it during the pandemic and they are on track to do it again.

The obligations or the requirements are quite stringent and the already stretched medical team is ensuring that everything required for CHOGM is met. They are leaving no stone unturned. The only shortfall is that the weekly specialist clinics would be put on hold.

Doctors and nurses will be based at four accommodation venues and 15 meeting venues as a requirement by the Commonwealth Secretariat for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October.

For the week of CHOGM, the Ministry of Health will not run the specialist clinics offered by the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital.

Acting Director General of Health, Atoa Dr. Glen Fatupaito said the focus will be on the outpatients department for that one week and meeting the obligations of the CHOGM.

The four accommodation medical stations will be operational on a 24-hour basis and manned by two sets of medical teams doing 12-hour shifts. Each medical team will have a doctor, nurses and a paramedic.

Similar requirements are for the meeting venue medical stations, however, the meetings only take place for certain hours of the day.

In addition to the local doctors, the United States Army Reserves doctors and medical personnel will assist by being at the medical clinics and hospitals.

The New Zealand government will provide five doctors and five nurses.

The Samoan diaspora is also helping. Some are in the medical profession and have put their hands up to help out during the CHOGM.

While so many of us are quick to blame doctors and nurses for the long waits and sometimes for perceptions that they did not do their work well, we forget that they try their best. They try their best even when they are under-resourced and do not have the manpower.

Our doctors can leave us in the blink of an eye as they are in demand from overseas countries, and so are our nurses, but they choose to serve the nation. They were pivotal when the pandemic forced closures across the world.

They did their work through long hours and they did it diligently. They were instrumental in isolations and quarantines. They ensured that the entire population of this country was vaccinated.

Now they are going to do the same for the CHOGM. They will pull through long hours to ensure that all obligations from the Commonwealth are met and at the same time, they will work according to plan to keep most hospital operations normal.

There is an opportunity cost and that is the cancellation of the specialist clinic for a week. Those patients who go for their weekly or fortnightly cardiac, diabetes, or high blood pressure checks will have to bite the bullet just for a week.

It is just for a week and if the requirements are too much then the outpatients would be open. It is also good to see that our development partners are lending a hand during the CHOGM. This goes to show that not only the nation but our closest allies are working to make it possible for us to host a successful CHOGM.

In the short term, the economic gains from the CHOGM are tremendous and in the long run, it will secure Samoa’s position as a small island nation capable of hosting international events. Making CHOGM a success, will require a little sacrifice from everyone because when the benefits flow in, it will go to everyone despite the fact how little they did.

Hats off to all those in government and the private sector who are doing their best to make this international event a success.