A RURAL health centre in East Sepik , Papua New Guinea that serves more than 28,000 people is low on essential drugs, its officer-in-charge says. Dreikikier rural health centre’s health extension officer Michael Inabiyu told The National: “Our drug supplies have been low for some time.” He said patients with mild to moderate illnesses were treated, however, those with more serious symptoms were sent to bigger hospitals for treatment. “I write prescriptions for those patients who can afford their own medication to purchase them at the pharmacy either Maprik or Wewak.” However, for emergency cases, he said the hospital was under resourced in terms of manpower and under-equipped to attend to medical emergencies.
The health extension officers said the health centre which was situated in Dreikikier station served people from both Dreikikier local level government and Gawanga LLG. Inabiyu said they could not do much in terms of providing the best possible medical service and this affected people from remote areas who had to walk long distances to the centre. He said any serious cases they received were referred to Maprik. He added that the other challenge the centre faced was getting more people vaccinated against the Coronavirus (Covid-19) as a lack off funding had hampered their efforts. “We had not done enough awareness and that is why convincing people to get the vaccine is the huge challenge for my team and me,” he said. He called on the authorities in the district to assist the health centre to improve services for the people. Next : PNG Doctor Says He’s Pursuing Justice Comments are closed.
|
PNG Health NewsThis websites provides all the latest Health News , insurance, health tips, health and scholarships in Papua New Guinea Top Links |