Gulf needs K120 million for health services

AT least K120 million is required to ensure that better health services can be provided in Gulf province, particularly for Kerema General Hospital, the provincial health authority said last week.
Provincial health director, Ben Bal said upgrading of health facilities, equipment and the maintenance and expansion of health workers accommodation must start with upgrading at the Kerema hospital so that its provincial hospital status was restored.
He was speaking last Saturday in Kerema when commending the Government for its initial allocation of funding support for the province under the Government’s hospitals and health care rehabilitation programme being rolled out to selected provinces.
This programme is being coordinated and facilitated by the Health, National Planning and Monitoring and Finance departments.
Mr Bal said this must follow on to the 22 health centres and all its other near-defunct health posts, more than half were non-operational at the local level government (LLG) areas.
He said the provision of better health care was becoming non-existent in the rural and very remote areas of Gulf province and had deteriorated for nearly two decades.
“What we must focus on now is to revive primary health care from the LLG, to the district and to the provincial level,” Mr Bal said when commending the Government’s presentation of K10 million funding support for Kerema hospital.