People living in remote areas of PNG receive much lower health care services than those in our towns or cities.
Our people are subjected to higher risks of contracting diseases and less access to quality healthcare.
Health Minister, Dr Puka Temu, said this during the opening of the new Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences lecture building at the Divine Word University in Madang.
“Through the government strategic plan and investment in higher education like DWU, we hope to enhance the health care delivery in remote areas of this land.”
Temu said he was pleased to see that the university took his views of the future seriously by establishing many departments and launching important health problems in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences like the following;
- Department of Environmental Health)
- Department of Health Extension (Rural health)
- Department of Health management
- Department of Physiotherapy
- Department of Eye Care
- Department of Public Health Leadership and Training
- Department of Medicine
- Department of Nursing with the newest program being the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.
“These are urgently needed in our country,” Temu said yesterday.
He thanked DWU for its commitment to work with the government and his ministry to improve the health care delivery for the people.
He adds that the Department of Health has key goals to achieve, such as full immunisation of all children under the age of 1; reduction of maternal mortality; reduction of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB prevalence and improving access to service for the poor.
“We cannot do it alone and we need the Higher Education Institutions like DWU to work with us and to graduate more competent and ethically motivated workforce for the health sector,” he said.
(Sir Puka Temu and his delegation at DWU yesterday)