Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) were assessed by a team of medical experts from Australia last week at Vaiola Hospital. 

OSA is a common problem that leads to bad quality sleep, and people with OSA have daytime sleepiness, heart problems, worse blood pressure and increased risk of driving accidents.

The team from Australia spent at busy week at the hospital assessing patients for OSA, sending them home with sleep study kits and starting people on OSA treatment with CPAP machines, stated the Ministry of Health on 11 May.

In addition it was also important that the visiting team spent time with Dr Sisi Mataka and the team from special outpatients clinic, training local medical staff to look after patients with OSA .

The Ministry acknowledged Dr Amy Mclean and Dr Roo Killick for sharing their knowledge of sleep medicine and also to Paul, Alison and Blair from Pacific Sleep.

Pacific Sleep donated :

• 4 sleep study kits (8K AUD each)

• 1 overnight oximeter machine (1.5K AUD)

• 27 CPAP treatment machines (usually 1.5K new)

• 2 BiPAP machines (8K each ) one for medical ward to use for acutely unwell patients

• 85 CPAP masks ($300 each)