PIH offers digestive tract checks

 PEOPLE wanting to have their digestive tracts checked may do so at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby in an operation called endoscopy.

Endoscopy includes gastroscopy, the examination of the oesophagus, stomach and small intestine, and colonscopy which is the examination of the colon (main part of the large intestine).

Endoscopy is a non-surgical procedure used to examine a person’s digestive tract. It is often used to confirm a diagnosis when other devices such as an MRI, X-ray and CT scan are considered 

inappropriate. 

Chief executive officer Ramanand Patnaik said endoscopy was an important procedure which many people could not 

afford. 

The hospital is therefore offering a 40% discount every Monday for the operation.

The after discount costs are K1,575 for colonscopy and K1,155 for gastroscopy.

“We feel by providing this discount a lot of people can take benefit from this service and even save their lives,” he said. 

“This discount is only available on Mondays and the number of endoscopies is limited to a maximum of 10 

per day.”

Patnaik said the special discount was applicable for pre-booked (elective) services only and not for emergencies, in-patients and insured patients. 

An endoscopy involves examining the inside of a person’s body using an endoscope, a medical device consisting of a long, thin, flexible tube which has a light and a video camera.

Images of the inside of the person’s body could be seen on a screen. 

An endoscopy is often carried out to find out the degree of problems a known condition may have caused.