Doctors want petition addressed

THE National Doctor’s Association has given Prime Minister James Marape and Health and HIV/AIDS Minister Elias Kapavore until Sept 6 to address the concerns raised in their petition, one of which was to replace Health secretary Pascoe Kase.
Secretary and chief of emergency medicine Dr Sam Yockopua said they presented a nine-point petition to Marape and Kapavore on Thursday and had given 14 days as of Friday (Aug 23) for their concerns to be addressed.
The nine points presented in the petition included:

• The need for new leadership, the removal of Kase;
• finding a solution to the drug shortage;
• addressing the lack of progress in improving cancer services, particularly the delay in formulation of the Radiation Bill and the reinstatement of senior department staff needed to develop the Regulations of the Radiation

Safety and Control Act 2018;

• stopping the Health Department restructure;
• review of PHA boards, medical and pharmacy boards, national health board and other policy making and regulatory bodies and eliminate those that compromised effective decision making and avoid position of being biased or have a conflict of interest;
• review of existing laws that compromise health service delivery;
• full funding and implementation of National Health Services Standards (NHSS);
• non implementation of some existing NDA awards based on MOA 2014-2017 (health insurance premium outstanding payments, medical academics backdate and new remuneration packages, home ownership scheme); and,
• addressing the shortage of doctors by strategising immediate, medium and long term solutions (creation of the Taurama Campus, review of DWU medical training, review the proposed UOG medical school.