Mobile clinics to boost EHP health services

GERMAN-made specialised mobile clinics will soon be used to boost rural health care in Goroka, Eastern Highlands.
Two clinics, one for dentistry and optometry, and the other for gynaecology, will be used for the first time in the country to cover Goroka’s rural areas.
The use of the mobile clinics are initiated by Goroka MP Thompson Harokaqveh.
The clinics have arrived in Goroka and kept in the Goroka Base General Hospital awaiting for an official launch soon.
Conrad Manove, a representative of Orion Commodities Ltd, which is an agent for Zeppelin Mobile System (ZMS), an established German industrial company, said the mobile clinics were equipped with world class facilities.
“The facilities are far more superior than many health centres and hospitals in PNG. It will serve Goroka’s rural population as well as settlements and residents in and around Goroka town,” he said.
Mr Manove said the clinics would boost Goroka’s rural health outreach programme.
“Mobile health clinics are a new concept to PNG although the use have been proven in other countries for effective rural health outreach.
“The clinics are also used to provide relief in war-torn zones throughout the world,” he said.
Mr Manove said the two mobile clinics were specifically tailored to customer requirements as ZMS catered for any specific requirements.
He said officers from Goroka were sent to Germany for a 10-day training stint on operating the clinics.
ZMS is a major supplier of mobile clinics to the UN’s World Health Organisation and military organisation in the world to care for health needs of disaster and war stricken victims.
The Eastern Highlands provincial government and the National Health Department supported Goroka with additional funding to buy the mobile clinics.