Ostomates

They are people who have underwent surgery for colon cancer or other medical reasons and who are now living with a plastic bag attached to their abdomen to collect faeces or urine.

They are people coping with invisible disability.

Stoma patients or ostomates go through physiological, psychological and spiritual trauma on a daily basis in silence, unknown to the general public.

The PNG Stoma Association (PNGSA) is a non-profit organisation formed in 2011 purposely to attend to the needs of this silent group of people.

A specialised centre will be the central location to provide to the needs of ostomates. And it will be that one place where ostomates will feel comfortable.

An ostomate is a person who has undergone a surgical procedure to create an artificial opening in the body called a stoma, used to discharge waste.  

They need colostomy bags, which are placed over their stoma to collect waste products that normally pass through a person's rectum and anus in the bathroom.

She says the foundation has colostomy bags and accessories to be donated to ostomates.

An ostomate is a person who has undergone a surgical procedure to create an opening in the body that will be used to discharge wastes.

Most child ostomates are born without an anus, hence the stoma (an artificial opening created surgically). For other ostomates, mostly adults, the cause of stoma is by bowel cancer, or gunshot/ knife wound, car accident resulting in the removal of part of their intestine.