Local communities in two districts of Morobe Province will benefit from new health facilities funded by the Australian government as part of ongoing activities to strengthen provincial health systems in Papua New Guinea.
The three new facilities include Yamaya community health post (CHP) in Menyamya District; and Bulolo Health centre and Garasa community health post in Bulolo District.
Australian High Commissioner, Bruce Davis, said during the opening ceremony of Bulolo Health Centre that Australia is absolutely committed to investing in PNG’s stability, security and prosperity through the Papua New Guinea-Australia partnership.
“Health is a key aspect of our partnership, and Australia is proud to support the PNG Government’s long-term vision to deliver high quality health services to all Papua New Guineans, especially to communities in rural areas,” Davis said.
“This upgraded facility will help more women safely deliver their babies under supervised conditions, provide health awareness messages to communities in rural and remote areas, provide greater access and reduce the need for women and children to travel for hours to access vital maternal and child health services.”
The newly opened community health posts will provide health services for 16,000 people in the local area. Each community health post has a delivery room, post-natal room, a procedures room, a 4-bed ward, upgraded sanitation and three staff houses.
A further 40,000 people are expected to benefit from the Bulolo Health Centre.
The facility was built under a public private partnership between the Rural Primary Health Services Delivery Project, the PNG Government and PNG Forest Products.
It includes 18 acute care beds, emergency department, general outpatients and MCH clinics, TB isolation ward, Operating Theatre, two birthing suites, X-ray and laboratory services, dental services, new medical equipment, a solar power system and up to 16 new staff houses.
The opening ceremonies took place at respective facilities between 1-2 December 2019 and were attended by Member for Bulolo and Minister for National Planning, Sam Basil; Member for Gazelle and Minister for Health and HIV, Jelta Wong; Deputy Secretary for Health Dr Paison Dakulala, representatives from the Australian High Commission, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Morobe Provincial Government.
The facilities were funded through the Rural Primary Health Services Delivery Project (RPHSDP), a national project that started in 2012 and is co-financed by the Government of PNG, the Australian government, the Asian Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development, World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
These projects support the PNG Government’s long-term vision to transform the health system and improve the health of the rural population by strengthening the capacity of the rural primary health system. This will in turn provide efficient and high-quality services and increase coverage of primary health care services in partnership with state and non-state health service providers.
(Bulolo MP Sam Basil, Health Minister Jelta Wong and Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis cutting ribbon to officially launch the new Bulolo Health Centre)