Australia has provided further support to enhance Samoa's e-Health system, contributing to the ongoing development of the Ministry of Health's digital healthcare infrastructure. 

This collaboration signifies the commitment of Australia as a donor partner, through the Tautua Program, to bolstering the technological capabilities of Samoa's healthcare sector, thereby facilitating improved efficiency, accessibility, and overall effectiveness in the delivery of health services. 

The official handover of the facility servers cost $93,100 tala and was conducted on Wednesday afternoon at the Director General of Health's office. 

Australia's Deputy High Commissioner Claire McGeechan presented the new equipment to the Director General, Aiono Professor Alec Ekeroma. 

Lenara Tupa'i, the Assistant Chief Executive Officer (A.C.E.O.) overseeing the I.C.T. Unit at the Ministry of Health, conveyed her deep appreciation to the Australian government for their continuous assistance. 

She highlighted the importance of the newly acquired mini servers and emphasized their practicality in enhancing the data collection processes within the ministry. 

Tupa'i underscored the positive impact these technological upgrades would have on the overall efficiency and functionality of the health system, emphasizing the valuable contribution of Australia in supporting Samoa's healthcare infrastructure. 

This acknowledgment reflected the collaborative efforts between the nations and the positive outcomes arising from international partnerships in advancing technological capabilities in the health sector.

"The main purpose of the facility servers is to build the resilience of the Ministry of Health information systems capability to continue patient care even if faced with issues such as power outages at the main central servers or disconnection due to disasters or unforeseen circumstances," the statement from the Ministry of Health reads. 

"Connectivity and delivery of the health information system services from the central servers to the rural health facilities are through the government-owned Samoa National Broadband Highway (SNBH).  

"When connectivity goes off, the rural Facility Server then kicks in and controls the flow of information within that facility as if there is full connectivity until such a time the connectivity to the central server is re-established or restored then the servers sync new information back and forth.

"This is a new workflow that has hugely improved the data infrastructure of the Ministry of Health and will go a long way in improving health information for better patient care," Tupa'i said.

"With the mini servers, we will be able to deliver information, not only directly from the central health to the rural health facilities but we will be able to have access to all the information and data collected by our teams out in the rural health facilities. 

"The core importance of having a mini health server is even when connectivity goes down or if the power goes off here in the central national health facilities, the mini servers will still be able to control all the data processes out in the health facilities until reconnected.

"In that way, information gets managed more easily from our main office."

In a previous update, it was noted that Samoa's Ministry of Health had initiated the prioritisation and implementation of the digital E-health system, achieving successful expansions into rural and district hospitals situated in Savaii.

As of November 2023, the Ministry officially affirmed that the Tamanu Go Live, which represents the implementation of the new patient health information digital system, has advanced to encompass district hospitals in Savaii.