Jiwaka leaders failing on health delivery

 DR Scott Dooley’s remarks last Wednesday (The National, Jan 13) are true and frightening. . 

As a former hospital executive and health administrator;  I am compelled to acknowledge the same frustrations of running a busy health institution with very little funding.

Jiwaka’s political leaders and the provincial government have that moral duty to ensure that health services are readily available. 

Church run health facilities like Kudjip Nazarene ought to be supported with funding and logistics because we don’t have a provincial hospital yet. 

People advising the governor on health matters must be honest and not be stupid or self-centered. 

Health care is a basic need under human rights law and every responsible authority must ensure all mothers and children in Jiwaka have access to life-saving drugs and surgery. 

For a hospital like Kudjip Nazarene which has been serving Jiwaka people over the decades to make claims of lack of funding since 2013 gives me the impression that people in authority do not care for our people. 

Most funding for Kudzip comes from Nazarene churches and communities in the United States of America and it’s shameful for the provincial government and MPs to expect hospitals of that size to function and operate without their support. 

Jiwaka must have its own provincial hospital by now. Expectations that Kudjip will play that role are misleading and stupid. 

Church run health facilities function under very different administrative and organisational structures and therefore the Public Service General Orders and Management Acts cannot be applied in those facilities. 

Thus, the provincial government has an ethical and moral responsibility to assist funding in any areas of need identified by the Kudjip hospital administration.

There are patient referrals out of Kudjip and other health centres in Jiwaka to Kundiawa in Chimbu and we are seeing an average of 10 to 15 Jiwaka patients in each clinical unit every week. 

The surgical wards are occupied by Jiwaka and WHP patients. 

As a Jiwaka man and specialist surgeon working at that fine hospital (Kundiawa), I pity my people and cannot fathom the lack of commonsense in those who are responsible in providing and delivering effective health services to our people.

Ignorance of your responsibility is unacceptable and I want to stress strongly here for the governor and the three MPs to make a visit to Kudjip Hospital and start putting your money where the lives of your voters really matters.

Dr Michael Dokup 

Kundiawa Hospital