Momase health meet identifies problem areas

A TWO-day health partnership conference for Momase region in Wewak ended last Thursday with participants reviewing and outlining priority key areas the national Health Department needs to address to allow for the flow of services to remote health centres and aid posts.
Most participants who attended were hospital chief executive officers and provincial health advisers from the four Momase provinces, representatives from AusAID, Save the Children and CBSC, who came together to discuss and learn from each other.
The topics cover areas such as provincial and hospital achievement summaries, health function grants and minimum priority activities, key objectives and strategies.
Chairperson Dr Louis Samiak said the biannual meeting was a health promotion between hospitals, health centres and stakeholders to review and strengthen the system.
Some of the issues that are common in all centres include the aging workforce, medical supplies not reaching centres, lack of vi­sit to rural centres  and no coordination between hospitals and health centres.
It was highlighted throughout the meeting that churches apart contributed a large proportion of medical services throughout the nation.
East Sepik provincial health advisor Albert Bunat said one way the province was embarking to deal with aging workforce was creating fully-funded positions for over 200 health workers.