Transcript
Lazarus Neko is the health director in the north western Solomons province of Choiseul.
He is responsible for more than 30,000 people in remote villages spread across 3,294 square kilometres of a mountainous volcanic island, with no ring road.
The situation in Dr Neko's province is not uncommon in Solomon Islands and according to the World Health Organisation it ranks among the countries in the region with the lowest essential health services coverage.
The permanent secretary of the Health Ministry, Pauline McNeil, is aiming for universal health coverage in Solomon Islands but she acknowledges there are significant challenges particularly with staffing, access to communities and the lack of prevention and control mechanisms, for both infectious and non-communicable diseases.
The director of policy and planning at the ministry, Ivan Ghemu, says the country's health targets are being guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, number three of which directly relates to universal health coverage.
But Mr Ghemu says the challenge for his team is to try and localise those goals and get everybody on the same page.
It is a vision Dr Lazarus Neko agrees with wholeheartedly.
While Solomon Islands is still far from achieving most of its health goals there is renewed optimism in the health sector that a united approach can bring about improvements and better health outcomes for all Solomon Islanders.