Marape: Health services must be accessible

ACCESS to health services is what the Government is pushing for, with Prime Minister James Marape instructing the Health Department to ensure that in the next 10 years, hospitals are more accessible to the people.
He said accessibility to hospitals and health services needed to be improved so that “unnecessary deaths” caused when people had to walk long distances, sometimes for days, could be prevented.
“The Coronavirus (Covid-19) has shown us we do not have enough hospitals in the country and not enough medicines.
“This is why we have 5,000 positions created for the health services,” he said.
“The meeting requirements by the Government is that aid posts and health centres are within the reach of the people and the country is secured in terms of health safety in future.”
Marape said health services needed to be within reach by car, boat and plane within an hour of any village.
“When someone is sick, that person has the right to have access to healthcare, and we are ensuring this is possible.
“This is why roads within the country are important to allow for such services like health and education to be accessible by the people,” Marape said.