Morobe health sector gets K13 million from Australia

By ZEBEDEE GIAME
MOROBE’S health sector has again benefited from a K13.1 million investment from the Australian government.
Australian acting High Commissioner Joanne Loundes confirmed this during the opening of two urban health clinics in Lae and Huon-Gulf.
“This is the first two to be opened out of eight that have been built across the province,” Dr Loundes said.
She said 37 new urban clinics were being built across the country.
Morobe health authority board chairman David Wissink said Tent Siti Urban Clinic and West Taraka Urban Clinic were funded by Australian and funding was managed by the Asia Development Bank.
He said both were level-three facilities.
Health authority chief executive officer Dr Kipas Binga said it would cost K3 million annually to run both facilities.
“Tent Siti has a birthing facility with eight beds as well as an outpatient department,” Binga said.
He said both facilities were built to national health standards.
“Tent Siti clinic would provide the antenatal, immunisation, dental and ultra-sound scanning services everyday,” he said.
He confirmed that the Tent Siti Clinic would be manned by seven community health workers, four midwives and a general nurse.
Binga said the Tent Siti clinic was built on land made available by the Evangelical Lutheran Church through its Lutheran Health Services.
Lutheran Health Services secretary Katu Yapi said the church believed in partnership.
“Because most of our resources were scarce, we relied on our partners,” he said.
Health secretary Dr Osborne Liko thanked the Australian government, saying the construction of both facilities were done without any variation.
“All these urban clinics that we have partnered with the Australian government to build are under the rural primary health service delivery programme,” Liko said.