Report a wake-up call, Kapavore says

POMIO MP and former Vanimo Hospital chief executive officer Elias Kapavore says the 2015 health sector annual management report presented by Health Minister Michael Malabag on Tuesday is a “wake-up call” for the Health Department.
He said that during debate on the report in Parliament yesterday.
“The overall performance of the Department of Health, as described in the mid-term review, has been described as sluggish,” Kapavore said.
“It’s an adjective to describe slack, depressed, unresponsive, lacking alertness or energy – this is taken from dictionary.com.
“This is a wake-up call for the Department of Health.
“The report indicated that the Government investment in the (health) sector increased by 9.7 per cent in the past four years, averaging up to K1.79 billion in 2014 and K1.77 billion in 2015.
“Such a report, presented by the minister for health, does not equate to the commitment by the Government.
“We need a well-documented, comprehensive report, and not stale, old documents like this one.”
Kapavore said he was speaking as an advocate for quality health care “and a strong believer of improved health services in our country for our people”.
“Nothing is more important than the feeling that we can trust our health system,” he said.
“The National Department of Health, under the former secretary Dr Clement Malau, documented the National Health Plan 2011-20 with eight key result areas.
“It was the first Government sector that had its plan aligned with the PNGDSP 2010-30 and the Vision 2050. This report should focus on the key deliverables from the eight key result areas.”
Kapavore said the K20 million allocated for free health had not been quantified.
“The Department of Health failed to verify the actual cost of free health care policy today.
“Every citizen has the right to basic health care, but we must know how much it costs.”