Maternal health declining: Prof

THE country’s maternal health has deteriorated over the past five years due to a lack of Government support towards maternity issues, a senior doctor says.
Prof Glen Mola made the remarks when responding to a query by The National on the status of maternal health.
Prof Mola, who is head of reproductive health and obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Papua New Guinea, said: “The Government has not allocated money to programmes to support women, family and maternity issues.
“So much money has been wasted on ‘prestige’ or ‘status projects like MRI machines, renal dialysis, catheterisation labs where very few people benefit.
“There was a ministerial task force set up in 2019 to recommend ways in which maternal and newborn health could be improved and the Government has never acted or implemented the recommendations.”
The Port Moresby General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi raised a concern this week regarding its maternity ward being the only public labour ward for the entire city and Central province with a population of more than a million people.
“It is the busiest labour ward delivering 60 babies per day (15,000 per year),” he said.
“Port Moresby General Hospital labour ward doctors and nurses are over stressed to handle such loads every day.”
Shadow Health Minister Elias Kapavore recently pointed out that the future for the country’s health sector was bleak unless major needs for preventative public health, family planning, improved nutrition and increasing workforce were met.
He said the current health system was stretched beyond its capacity.
The national health workforce for government-run health facilities consists of 17,878 positions, of which only 9,985 or 56 per cent are occupied.