Free medical checks and awareness

By ZINA KOIM
MORE than 700 inmates of the Bomana prison in Port Moresby, staff and community will benefit from a week-long free medical checkup and awareness.
The free checkup and awareness which started yesterday was organised by the Bomana Seventh day Adventist (SDA) Church in partnership with the National Capital District Health Authority and Department of Correctional Services.
The authority’s dental services coordinator, Dr Tony Ila, said their team would provide different services, family health services, immunisation, tuberculosis (TB) screening and family planning.
“We have our dental team here and they will basically be doing simple extractions or tooth removal, simple fillings and false tooth for those who have missing tooth,” Ila said.
“Oral cancer is very common and is affecting so many people, so we will also be doing oral cancer screening as well as conducting awareness for oral cancer and general dental awareness.”
Ila said the public health team would be covering immunisation and family planning.
“Those kids less than five years old and have not been immunised will get immunisation and they’ll provide nutritional advice as well,” he said.
“TB is becoming prevalent in the communities, so our team will be conducting screening and if the results are positive we will put them on treatment.”
Ila said the team would help mothers who had implants and wanted them removed and those who did not have and wanted it, to be inserted.
He said the programme’s purpose was to create a partnership between the churches and health organisations to reach out to people and deliver health services.
SDA church’s district director for Moresby North East, Pastor Edward David, said the church-organised programme was a lead-up to a bigger programme called PNG Four Christ that would run from April 22 to May 16.
He said under that programme, more than 300 SDA preachers worldwide would visit PNG and would be sent to different provinces and one of them would be stationed at Bomana.
“What we are doing is to give service to the people,” he said.