US medical team here to help

By JOY TOROME
A medical team from the Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC) in the United States arrived in Port Moresby yesterday for a week-long visit of the country.
The team consists of the chief executive of the children’s hospital, a legal counsel, a chief nursing officer and a paediatric professor.
They will be in the country for a week.
They will visit Enga, Mount Hagen, Nonga Base and Port Moresby hospitals to conduct general medical assessment of the paediatric wards.
They are here at the invitation of Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, in partnership with the PNG Tribal Foundation (PNGTF).
These hospitals have been chosen because the high numbers of children admitted.
The hospitals also have a good partnership with the Tribal Foundation .
CHC CEO Jena Hausmann said that they would donate basic medical supplies, and provide training for local nurses and doctors.
“We won’t be performing any medical procedure,” she said.
“This is our partnership with the PNG Tribal Foundation – a way to extend knowledge, training, expertise to PNG.
“From these assessments, we can see where the need lies and what we
can do to improve paediatric care in PNG.”
PNGTF director of operations Ruth Kissam said PNG had high infant and maternal mortality rates.