Authorities need to address the faults in our health system

IT was with great sorrow that I learned last week of the passing away of the Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio.
It is the case that our country is losing a lot of very senior and experienced people in the government and other organisations in the country.
Something is not right.
Last year, we lost the deputy speaker of Parliament as well as the then Hela Governor Anderson Agiru.
It seems our senior people are dying in their 50s and 60s, ages which would have qualified them with invaluable experiences which we as a nation should be tapping into to further develop the country and solve the many problems that are arising as we are going through tough times.
I am mindful of the fact that Donald Trump was 70 and Hillary Clinton was 69 when they contended as the last two candidates in the US Presidential Campaign last year, with Trump coming out the victor.
There is something that they (Western world) possess that we in PNG lack.
I am of the view that it is the lack of vision that the government has in upgrading the health system in the country, which should also include initiating programmes to properly educate citizens on living a healthy lifestyle.
That should include banning bad food sold in kai bars as well as the selling and littering of the city and towns with betel nuts, among others.
People are contracting germs unawares as well as dying from being ignorant about basic healthy living.
How long will we go on ignoring the basics in health for our senior citizens as well as the general populace?
Many are going overseas for medical treatment that we should by now have offered in our major hospitals in the nation.
How long will the senior medical professionals heading the Health Department keep quiet and not pushing the Minister to act on programmes to help the citizens of the nation?
How long will the Health Department keep quiet and not persuade the government to truly upgrade our health system as well as initiating programmes to help our people.
I have said this to my colleagues last year (when senior officials were dying) that it seems the government and the Health Department, of all organisations, should be at the forefront of the fight against health issues which are ravaging through the land because of our ignorance of being exposed to Western food, drinks and lifestyles, which may not be the best for us Melanesians who have a different physical makeup to others.
We still have to see the Health Department run programmes in government departments to continually warn their workforce of the dangers of being ignorant about the basics in keeping oneself healthy and fit.
The Health Department must run programmes within government departments to educate the government workforce on the importance of healthy lifestyle.
That could include doing morning exercises before the start of work, or after work.
That initiative can eventually be passed onto established firms and organisations which employ a lot of highly-trained professionals whose jobs are generally sedentary in nature.
If such measures are not in place, the sad thing is we as a nation will continue to lose more of our senior citizens at a time where they can still be adding value with advice they give on different matters while they are in the 50s and 60s.
The government, Health Department and related organisations must wake up and do something immediately.
Inactive and senior officials who lack the vision and will to initiate programmes to that end must be sidelined.
It is my view that they are to be blamed too for the losses that we are experiencing in the nation.

PNG Tauna, Via email