By NIDRA KEWERE MAPI
HEALTH Minister Sasa Zibe admitted yesterday that he did not realise the poor conditions at the country’s medical facilities during a visit to the Laloki Psychiatrist Hospital yesterday.
He said although health issues were publicised well, he did not know it was that bad.
He gave an assurance that he would now look into the matter.
At the hospital, Mr Zibe was told that health workers were at a higher risk of infection themselves because of overcrowding and poor equipment.
Although the wards were for mental cases, some patients with tuberculosis (TB), skin disease, HIV/AIDS and other diseases were also brought there.
Mr Zibe was told that some staff had in the past caught TB because of the poor conditions.
Most of the wards were built to accommodate 14
to 27 beds but now have between 20 and 50 patients.
The hospital currently had 60 mental patients, most of them aged between 15 and 30.
About 50 of them suffered from drug abuse, mainly marijuana, while the others had schizophrenia and manic depression.
“Good health is a constitutional right of every Papua New Guinean and the Government through the Health Department is supposed to ensure that this is being done,” Mr Zibe said.
He urged parents to prevent their children from using drugs as “there are no proper facilities” to treat them.
Earlier, Mr Zibe opened two new buildings at the hospital, one to house the health workers on shift duties who had been sleeping in the wards.
The other building was for female patients who were currently warded at the Port Moresby General Hospital due to a lack of space at Laloki.
Hospital chief executive officer Yamele Getzo said they needed better facilities, more vehicles and more staff.
“We are stretched beyond the limit,” he said. “Money is our biggest issue.”
Mr Getzo also said that the supply of medicines needed to be improved.
“The Government spends a lot of money to import the medicines but once they arrive at the wharf, there was a long delay. Often, by the time we get the medicines, they had already expired,” he said.