NZ envoy visits St John centre

NEW Zealand High Commissioner Phillip Taula visited the St John Ambulance command centre in Port Moresby yesterday to view the upgrades to decontamination facilities for ambulance and medical equipment which his government had supported.
According to a statement from St John Ambulance, the upgrades were part of K1 million support to assist the national government in its preparedness and response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The investment builds on previous support to St John Ambulance during Apec in 2018, and supports St John Ambulance staff to undertake training in New Zealand under the New Zealand short-term training scholarships programme.
Taula said the support to St John Ambulance was an important part of New Zealand’s broader support to Papua New Guinea’s Covid-19 response effort.
The funding would also support St John continue to provide essential health services to Papua New Guineans. The funding is part of an overall K12 million package support from New Zealand for preparedness and response to the Covid-19 in PNG.
This includes contributions to the WHO, NGO partners, Unicef support for procurement of ventilators and medical equipment and budget support to the Health Department.
Commissioner and chief executive of St John Matt Cannon said the assistance from New Zealand had supported their broad contribution to the national government’s response to the Covid-19.