Improve health care to help rural people

NATION building requires active labour.
A healthy population that is disease free will ultimately contribute to a nation’s prosperity.
An analogy with automobile and its spare, auto parts is good to assess and draws a lesson to human life.
Human life doesn’t have spare parts as in automobiles or other electronic devices.
Health service in the country requires a deep resurrection from the pit of ill-equipped service delivery as far as infrastructure and the cost of health service is concern.
Papua New Guineans are feeling hurt to meet the demand for the high prices of health service.
That includes hospitals, health centres and aid posts.
Firstly, our people in rural and marginalised communities of Papua New Guinea are the biggest victims to poor health service delivery.
If you look at places in the country like Karamui, Bundi, Okapa, Oksapmin, Ambi, Amblua, Wapisale, Kol, Balimo, Munima Karita, Yangis, Kambia and Mt Tawa, women are dying from child birth complication.
People are also dying prematurely in these areas from curable diseases.
What has the government done to improve efficient and affordable health service to these areas?
Had it not been for churches the populations of theses places would have occupied graves already.
I commend church agencies for establishing aid posts and health centres’ who have truly assisted the government.
Secondly, the cost of health services are high and the ordinary people, including the public servants can hardly afford it.
For instance, the costing of a heart that will be charged by a battery according to a medical practitioner is around K20,000 at Port Moresby General Hospital.
The battery’s life span is 10 years and one has to pay K20,000 again to recharge it.
Quite a substantial amount of money, isn’t it?
I don’t think our people in the village will afford it if they face heart failure and will only rely on hope for a miracle.
Travelling abroad for medication can be a second chance to a millionaire but for a villager, tears and prayers are offered for divine intervention.
My appeal is for us to restructure and revive the health system in the country.
The government must review the health act and create legislation to lower health costs for every citizen and improve health infrastructure in the country.
Leaders must propose new health bills in parliament rather than keeping their mouths shut.
After all, quality health service is the fundamental focus for any democratic state that have gone from traditional economy to industrialized nation.

Justin Max Undi
Kuli Kombu Village