EHP cholera funds acquitted

THE K500,000 allocated to combat cholera and dysentery in Eastern Highlands province has been expended as required and acquitted accordingly, says provincial health adviser Ben Haili.
“The money made available by the National Disaster and Emergency Services (NDES) to Eastern Highlands provincial health office was expended and acquitted promptly,” Mr Haili said yesterday.
He said that when cholera case was first detected in September at Wasu and Menyamya in Morobe province and then Simberi and Andakombi in Obura-Wonenara district in Eastern Highlands province, they responded immediately by deploying surveillance and medical teams.
Mr Haili said they responded to form a provincial cholera task force and monitored the progress and conducted awareness in the eight districts of Eastern Highlands.
He said the provincial management team had called special meeting involving stakeholders, business houses and government departments to seek additional funding.
Mr Haili said the Eastern Highlands provincial administration was supportive and had secured K500,000 from the NDES and directed to the provincial health office, under its health services improvement programme trust account, to fund the cholera epidemic response action.
“Many business houses, especially big companies in Goroka were asked to help but, sadly, they did not help,” Mr Haili said, but acknowledged the help of Bintagor Trading, Coffee Connections, Istana Trading and the Rotary Club of Goroka.
“And these people are farmers who supply most of their produce, like coffee and vegetables, to Goroka town.
“If people are sick, there will be decline in production, resulting in the decline of farming activities,” he said.