Australian doctors sign deal to progress health in New Ireland

By ELIZABETH VUVU
THE health status of rural areas in New Ireland is expected to be boosted with the expertise of doctors from the Australian Doctors International (ADI).
The provincial government had enlisted Australian doctors and allied health workers to help left the status of community health services in rural areas of the province.
The conditions of engagement were agreed and signed in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week which paved the way for the deployment of doctors and professional personnel to partner with provincial health workers and combine to improve and uplift health service planning and delivery.
The advance party led by Dr Chris Lavers met with Governor Sir Julius Chan, deputy governor Florence
Stocken and provincial chairman for health, Philomena Jonah, signed the MoU marking the first such
cooperation agreement between New Ireland and an international organisation.
ADI is a health care and development non-profit organisation based in Sydney which offers services internationally in areas of health administration, planning and medical under mutual terms of cooperation.
Sir Julius, who was instrumental in soliciting their involvement welcomed the ADI and said the doctors would help the provincial government rebuild health services by improving medical quality treatment at aid posts level to reduce the number of sick patients flooding sub-health and health centres.
To date, 12 aid posts have been closed in Kavieng with nine in Namatanai due to years of neglect and this has recorded a real decline in access to health services where mothers and the sick walked several hours to the nearest aid post.