Maxtone-Graham vows to review old health policies

National, Normal
Source:

The National,Tuesday17 January 2012

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
OUTDATED public health policies and legislation will be reviewed and improved, Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS Jamie Maxtone-Graham says.
He said Papua New Guinea needed to create and implement plans that would support existing policies like the national health plan to better improve the state of public health and to monitor diseases that were threatening the health of the nation.
Maxtone-Graham represented the Western Pacific region at the World Health Organisation executive meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, this month and observed how the health agendas relevant to PNG could be managed in the light of reducing high morbidity and mortality rates of preventable diseases.
“Based on all the information and briefings I got, it is my plan to review many of our outdated public policies and legislation to improve the country’s response to many of our public health issues,” Maxtone-Graham said in a statement yesterday.
He outlined these as:
qThe prevention and control of non-communicable diseases where cardio-vascular and cancers were the two main causes of mortality in PNG. THE 2011-20 National Health Plan is in place to address this plus the Nationl Eye Plan 2011-15 intended to address the visual impairment and blindness of more than 150,000 ordinary Papua New Guineans;
qSocial determinant of health. Little access to quality health service, essential medicine and clean water has caused the rural population to migrate to urban areas, thus causing crowded households, poor sanitation facilities, gender inequalities, unequal education opportunities and health inequalities. WHO is working with PNG to develop strategies to guide work on building mechanisms to address the social determinants of health;
qGood nutrition for women in the pre-conception period and during pregnancy and breast-feeding periods. A good number of women suffer from poor nutrition in the child bearing stage which creates more associated risks to their health and the child’s. There is advocacy and development of strategies to reduce prevalence of malnutrition;
qSubstandard and counterfeit medical products which compromise patients’ health outcomes. Essential medicines are often short on stock and more is sold on open markets. WHO is supporting PNG to build regulatory capacity on drug registration, site inspection, assess the feasibility of establishing drug testing laboratories and strengthening the supply chain; and
qAdolescent and young pregnancies – a serious risk for young women and their children. WHO is working with the health department to develop youth and adolescent policy to address early and unwanted pregnancies and high sexual transmission infections in youth and adolescents in the country.