Attend to regular cases

IN the wake of coronavirus pandemic, it seems all medical resources and personnel have been diverted to preventing and containing Covid-19.
People who are vulnerable with existing health conditions are left helpless not knowing where to go to for help for review and treatment.
I am a relative and a guardian of a patient with an existing health condition that requires doctors to change the catheter.
A catheter is a soft hollow tube, which is passed into the bladder to drain urine.
Catheters are sometimes necessary for people, who for a variety of reasons, cannot empty their bladder in the usual way, i.e. passing urine into a toilet or urinal.
It is a foreign object and remaining in the human body any longer than 14 days is likely to cause infections or other side effects or in the worst case unnecessary death.
My relative is a registered patient of the Port Moresby General Hospital and we commute to the hospital from Magi Highway after every two weeks interval to have the catheter changed.
Since the end of January, I have made contacts with the PMGH and other Health Centres in NCD and sought help.
But we were told they will not attend to us as all health facilities and clinics were closed.
Doctors and health workers need not be reminded that 14 days is the maximum number of days that catheter inserted into the bladder through the urethra before it’s changed.

Huha Avia