Morobe Provincial Health Authority (MoPHA)

Of the 352 aid posts, 138 have been closed, according to a December 2023 report by the public health division of the Morobe Provincial Health Authority.

This is 46 per cent of the village health posts in the most populous and largest province.

In addition to that, the province has 55 health facilities in its 10 districts: 11 in Lae, 8 in Bulolo, 7 in Finschhafen while Kabwum, Menyamya and Tewai-Siassi have 6 each. Huon Gulf and Nawaeb have 4 each and Markham has 3. Most of them are in a rundown state and lack proper equipment and medical supplies.

Local MP, Dr Kobby Bomareo, queried whether the Morobe Provincial Health Authority has a structure that includes rural health facilities.

The Etep Rural Hospital in Morobe’s Tewai-Siassi district recently announced that it was scaling down operations due to lack of funding.

Etep caters to over 19,000 people.

Dr Bomareo visited the rural health facility, where he said two main questions arise when a facility is on the brink of closure.

Tewai-Siassi MP, Dr Kobby Bomareo, made this statement in reference to the scaling down of operations by the major rural hospitals of Etep and Braun in Morobe Province.

On the 1^st of October, the management of Braun Memorial District Hospital in Finschhafen announced the scale down of operations on the 6^th of October for an indefinite period.

This was due to lack of funding.