Some of our readers might have cringed when they read an article in the Samoa Observer, which quoted an auditor giving his personal view on the country’s preparedness for the COVID-19.

What has an auditor got to do with public health would have been one question asked by those within the medical fraternity.

Ironically, a couple of days ago, former prime minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi also

questioned a parliamentary colleague’s scrutiny of a Samoa Airways’ contract approved by his Administration.

He did not think his colleague understood the financial workings of the national airline.

“An engineer cannot do the work of a doctor,” Tuilaepa told the parliament.

But for Samoa, like other democracies in the world, the impact of public policy can and should transcend professional grouping as well as national boundaries. That is to say, that an auditor should take as much interest in his country’s public health policies, as much as a Cabinet Minister in the finances of a State-owned airline.

Lest we forget that “no man is an island”, as the famous saying goes. A man, woman and a child cannot exist in isolation and are ultimately part of a larger and interconnected whole. 

In public policy when there are broader moves by governments to formulate laws and regulations to promote the health and wellbeing of citizens, this is known as public health as it promotes the health of the wider population.

And the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis which based on data collated by the U.S. Johns Hopkins University & Medicine has already claimed 5.7 million lives globally with infections eclipsing 384 million. Samoa has 33 cases with 2 historical cases last year imported from abroad and 31 current active cases; 6 of them nurses who worked in the managed isolation wards and got infected; with the other 25 passengers on a January 19 charter flight from Brisbane, Australia.

So top marks to the senior auditor Su’a Rimoni Ah Chong (Lack of information on COVID-19 worries auditor) for leaving no stone unturned in his assessment of the country’s preparedness to tackle the coronavirus. 

It is true that Samoa had two-years of preparations – before the virus landed on our shores in multiple numbers – but as Su’a highlighted we don’t see any evidence of those preparations when you are in town or go to the Vaitele shopping precinct.

In the last couple of days we have seen people forming queues outside businesses, but there is no observance of the 2-metre social distancing policy, with men and women standing shoulder-to-shoulder. There were shops that fervently enforced the no-vaccination-card-no-entry rule last weekend after the release of the revised State of Emergency (S.O.E.) Orders, but today you can walk into the same shops without showing your vaccination card.

Should the National Emergency Operations Centre (N.E.O.C.) start putting businesses on notice for not getting their customers to adhere to public health protocols as stipulated in the S.O.E. Orders?

One big improvement in the last couple of days has been the less number of children seen accompanying adults either in the Apia or the Vaitele shopping and market area. It is, perhaps, an acknowledgement of the S.O.E. Orders banning children below the age of 12 from public spaces.

The senior auditor’s reference to a letter dated 29 January 2022 – which the Samoa Medical Association (S.M.A.) wrote to the Health Minister in relation to the country’s 30 active COVID-19 cases (which now stands at 31 after another nurse tested positive) – warrants a response from the Health Minister.

The three-page letter from the S.M.A. was also copied to the Samoa Observer, which we published in full in the 30 January 2022 edition of the Sunday Samoan. It called for the Government to consider more surveillance testing out in the community and the vaccination programme to also include children aged 5 to 11 years of age. And access to readily available “correct information” can be expanded on top of the information that is currently shared on the Ministry of Health’s website and social media pages.

It is not known if the Health Minister Valasi Tafito Selesele responded to the letter. But if he did then it is only fair that his written reply is shared with the members of the public for their peace of mind.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis everywhere, not just for Samoa due to its current 31 active cases, so let's do our part and claim ownership of the solution by strictly following public health protocols. And get vaccinated to give you and your families a fighting chance of survival.