Hagen hospital short of drugs

Reports by YVONNE HAIP
THE Mount Hagen General Hospital faces a shortage of drugs as it approaches the busy Christmas period.
The Western Highlands provincial health authority attributed the
shortage to alcohol abuse, which it said cost the Mt Hagen hospital a lot of money.
Provincial health authority chief executive officer, Dr James Kintwa said last Friday the shortage could prove critical as the festive season usually saw an increase in the number of people seeking medical attention.
Kintwa said they were concerned about the drug supplies and had to procure more as the hospital anticipated an influx of patients.
He said if drink driving and alcohol-related accidents and emergencies were to soar during the festive season, the hospital would be hard hit as it had not been given any drugs by the government for over six months.
Alcohol abuse was already costing the hospital funds as a result of alcohol-related
accidents and emergencies.
He called on people to refrain from excessive drinking during the festive season and for authorities to put tougher laws in place to combat alcohol abuse.
He said patients would be affected if they did not receive adequate care and treatment because the government was not procuring drugs.
Kintwa said the hospital was stepping up its operations by offering specialist care and treatment and employing new doctors.
Funds were now needed to procure supplies so that medication prescribed by those doctors could be given to patients.
He said more people were dying as a result of alcohol abuse, while road accidents caused by drink driving were costing the hospital and the country.
The hospital was using up funds on cases it had not budgeted for such as alcohol-related cases.
That was an extra burden on the hospital, which was already tight on medical supplies.