Church conducts free checkups

The one-day free healthcare checkup by Abongtu SDA Church in Lae last weekend has highlighted the lack of first aid knowledge resulting in an increase in diseases within family units.
Lae district disease control coordinator Sr Siling Awasa said the initiative has enabled health workers to reach out to people in settlements around the city.
She said overcrowding, lack of access to clean drinking water, low living standards, lack of information and knowledge on first aid have resulted in poor hygiene for most settlements in Lae.
“We recorded a high number of cases of diarrhea and dysentery during the one-day free healthcare check-up and this shows that people were not really doing the basics of washing hands after using the toilet and before eating,” said Awasa.
She further stated that in order to improve on that, authorities must help in planning settlements and upgrade public facilities like water supply, health facilities and sewerage and sanitation.
Lae district nurse manager Sr Manzia Bominingu confirmed that the most common disease identified was pneumonia which affected mostly children.