We need medical specialists, facilities

AFTER 46 years of independence, the country’s public system should have necessary specialist medical facilities to cater for most life-threatening diseases.
The reality, however, is that Papua New Guineans are still referred to overseas health facilities for certain cancers and other diseases for which there is no trained specialist or equipment in-country.
Such medical treatment costs thousands of kina, not to mention related travel and accommodation costs for both patients and guardians.
Even for families who choose to take their loved ones abroad, the costs are such that they would require assistance from others or even borrowing form financial institutions.
Such situations are quite stressful and where there is no hope of at all of raising the necessary finances, families only resort to palliative care and expect the worst.
Port Moresby General Hospital, the national referral hospital, should by now be able to provide most of the specialist medical facilities and trained staff to provide some measure of relief and assurance to the public that we no longer need to refer patients abroad.
Hospital chief executive Paki Molumi’s message to his staff to commemorate the 46th Independence Anniversary was along those lines.
He said being politically independent should mean that the country should be health-independent as well.
Coming from a health specialist and manager, such a sentiment is quite possibly the cry of his peers, especially in the public health system who would have been longing to see the day when Papua New Guineans are no longer sent overseas for specialist treatment or surgery that is widely available even in public health systems.
Despite being the national referral hospital, Port Moresby General Hospital continues to send patients abroad for treatment.
It is critical, in fact a matter of life and death that in the next few months, if not, certainly after a new government comes into office after July 2022, that the upgrading of the cancer treatment facilities at both Port Moresby General Hospital and the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae are given all necessary resources to have them operational as soon as possible. But specialised treatment centres would be of no use if there are no trained specialists operating in them.
Port Moresby General Hospital has recently sent five of its staff for specialist training at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka and are said to be doing well so far.
One of them has had a one-year clinical internship with the Sri Lankan National Cancer Research Institute in Margahma.
Radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer is a real time treatment and dealing with sophisticated machines is very complex process hence the trainees will need to gain an advanced theoretically based knowledge before they can progress to the practical work.
After completing the advanced clinical training for 10 months, the group will be return home with advanced radiotherapy treatment skills.
These are critical skills that the country desperately needs.
So keeping these trained specialist within the public health system by paying them well and providing all necessary support they need to do their jobs well is important.
Over the past decades, many people have died of cancers.
According to some medical experts, this is unacceptable because around the world, public health systems have health facilities that can cure cancers that Papua New Guineans are dying from.
With the cancer treatment centres in Port Moresby and Lae open and run by specialists such as radiation therapists, there should be no excuse to refer cancer patients abroad.
This should at least be one important step towards being health-independent.