Workers told not to wait for funds

National

HEALTH workers in Western Highlands have been urged to do what they can within their means to help patients instead of waiting for the government or their employers to make resources and funding available in order to provide medical assistance to the sick.
Curative Health Services acting director with the Western Highlands health authority (WHPHA) Dr Madison Dat said the country was going through a tough financial situation and all government services including health were affected.
Dat said that employees must not wait for their employer to provide equipment and funds but must do whatever they could to help others.
“Do not delay to assist people who come to you for help,” Dat said.
He said these while addressing health workers at the recent graduation of the community health workers who had attended a six-month midwifery training, at the Kimininga Hotel in Mt Hagen.
Dat said the WHPHA had invested in the right area because patient care was its core business and thanked all those involved in making the training successful including the trainers and participants.
Enga PHA chief executive officer Aaron Luai said that the up-skilling of community health workers (CHW) with midwifery skills would make a big impact in the rural areas where they worked.
Luai said that the training that CHW received would greatly reduce maternal and infant mortality and create more awareness on basic healthcare.
“Community health workers are the backbone of this country and I thank the rural primary health Services delivery programme and WHPHA for funding this programme,” he said.
WHPHA acting chief executive officer Dr Paulus Ripa said he was overwhelmed by two presentations which showed that WHPHA had invested its financial resources in the right areas and produced positive results.
“Doctors cannot do everything on their own,” he said
“Doctors, nurses and community health workers need to work as a team to help reduce the maternal and child mortality rate in our region and the country.”
He said that he was part of the team that put together the CHW training curriculum several years back.
Luai said he was proud to see and hear of the success stories of some of the community health workers and pledged his support for the CHW up-skilling programme.