Difficult to attract oncologist to PNG, says Otto

By JUNIOR UKAHA
IT is not easy to get an oncologist to come and work in the country, says National Cancer Treatment Centre (Lae) manager George Otto.
Otto said the absence of an oncologist at the centre was affecting patient care and treatment.
The last oncologist to serve at the centre, Dr Raj Deepak Ghimire, left in December due to issues with his remuneration package.
“It is not easy to find an oncologist to come and work in the country,” Otto said.
“Clinical oncologists are quite expensive to hire.
“They are paid a lot of money to work anywhere.
“These kind of doctors are hard to find.
“We are in the process of recruiting a new oncologist.
“We have interviewed four oncologists already, mostly from Sri Lanka and India. No one from Australia would come because the package is not right.
“We will also look at other countries like the Philippines and Malaysia. We have negotiated with one to come but he has changed his mind.
“He wanted to get a tax-free salary but we declined so he refused the offer.”
Otto said oncologists are paid between $A9,000 (K21,000) and $A12,000 (K28,000) a fortnight.
Angau Memorial Hospital chief executive officer Dr Christopher Kenyhercz last week recommended that local doctors be sent overseas to undergo training in oncology.
He said it would be better to have local doctors trained than to bring in expatriates whose remuneration packages were huge.