DWU students inspire hospital staff to do more

Education

THIRD-year rural health science students at the Divine Word University (DWU) have left quite an impression on the Tabubil Hospital staff during their 10-weeks work placement in the North Fly and Middle Fly districts of Western.
Tabubil Hospital administrator Margareth Samei said after going through two days of training on basic infection control, the students conducted a supervised waste management audit under the guidance of infection control specialist Cathy Seidam and presented their findings to hospital staff, which she described as “significant”.
“Significant in the sense that the findings were a wake-up call for our hospital staff. We were taking for granted that we were practising good infection control practise as required by World Health Organisation (WHO), but I acknowledge and appreciate that there is more for us to do to raise our standards,” she said.
Samei told students during the certificate presentation ceremony on Oct 16 that they were privileged to cover training in basic infection control practices; an area that many health workers in the country are still struggling to learn, understand and practice.
The 15 students began their work placement on Aug 17. They were split into groups and sent to health centres in Kiunga, Bosset (Middle Fly), Tarabits (North Fly) and Iowara (Middle Fly) where they spent seven weeks before returning to the Tabubil Hospital to work in various sections.
Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) deputy CEO and general manager external relations Musje Werror, who attended the ceremony, said according to the 2016 Health Department report, Western was one the most improved provinces and we are in the top four when comparing health indicators across the county.
This is a huge achievement given that the province has been ranked second last prior to 2015.
“We have health programmes extending all the way down to the South Fly, Middle Fly and North Fly that is improving the primary health care for the people and it is showing in the health indicators,” Werror said.