Port Moresby General Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Paki Molumi is concerned that public health issues when not addressed will cause a worst-case scenario for the hospital.
Dr Molumi revealed this during the commissioning of the Port Moresby General Hospital’s Kidney Dialysis Centre, recently.
He stated that the hospital would like to address public health at the forefront because when it is not addressed, the hospital is at the receiving end of the worst.
He said this is a result of a lack of knowledge and ignorance.
Dr Molumi states that having three kidney dialysis centres in the country so far is a milestone achieved in the health care services delivery in this space providing more opportunities for kidney patients in the country.
However, there is yet another phase that is more permanent and cheaper in the long run.
That is organ transplant, which is the most ideal with less hassle than kidney dialysis, but better still is not to reach that stage of health status at all.
National Department of Health Deputy Secretary for Public Health, Ken Wai elaborates more.
“We in medicine and in health, our motto is ‘prevention is better than cure’ because when it comes to cure, you need a big hospital like this and its specialist medical officers and you need specialist equipment, you need specialists to cure and you need a lot of money.
“In addition, you become sick, when you are sick, the family is sick, the individual is sick, and we cannot contribute to the well-being and the development of the nation,” Mr Wai said.
He shared that healthy human beings contribute, and a Papua New Guinean has a lifespan of 65.4 years, while other nations have a lifespan of up to 70, 80, 90, 100. While ours is 65.4 only. It is because of such things as diabetes, stroke, and all the different diseases that can easily be prevented,” he said.
Mr Wai said the country needs to do a lot more in prevention; Don’t drink what you are not supposed to drink.
He encouraged eating more natural organic food including protein, rather than eating greasy food such as lamb flaps. He also warned youths against drinking sweet drinks such as Bu, which contains a lot of sugar.
Mr Wai the Health Department will be reviewing their Public Health Education strategy later in the year to deal with fast-changing lifestyle diseases in the country.
Meanwhile Dr. Molumi emphasises further on looking beyond the dialysis machine.
“So the next programme from this, what we want to do is to get the patients out of the machine so that they go and live an economic life, and that is through kidney transplant.”