Province to pilot Vscan project

 Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation and General Electric have joined forces with Enga provincial health to create a Vscan pilot project that includes telehealth capabilities.

The Vscan is a compact ultrasound device that is comparable the size of a mobile phone and provides high quality scanned images that can be read onsite or sent to distant hospitals for consultation via tele-health.  

Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas said the pilot project supported the effort of the provincial health department to bring good services to the people. “We are delighted to be the first to pilot the Vscan in PNG and will do our best to develop a model for other provinces to start their own Vscan programmes,” Sir Peter said. 

The distant hospitals that will be part of this project are Port Moresby General Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado, which is a top-five children’s hospital in the US.

The focus is to demonstrate the value of the Vscan in rural PNG. 

General Electric developed the Vscan at the request of the United Nations to help address high infant and maternal mortality rates in developing countries like PNG.  

It has been introduced with great success in other countries but none with health centres as remote as those in this country.

General Electric country head Peter Loko said they were committed to working on the challenges faced in PNG and were excited to partner with Tribal Foundation and the health team in Enga. 

“Once we showcase it in Enga, we are quite certain other provinces will want the Vscan in health their centres,” Loko said.