PNG National Doctors Association

The 30 clinical academic doctors resumed classes at midday on Tuesday January 31, after receiving their outstanding Awards payment of K5.5 million on Monday.

The academics stopped work on Wednesday, January 24 to give time for the Government to respond to their grievances over non-payment of their Awards dating back to January 1, 2014.

The National Doctors’ Awards benefits the academic doctors employed by the Department of Health and government hospitals.

The Awards is an agreement between the PNG National Doctors Association and the Government.

The National Executive Council endorsed the stand-alone PNG Medical and Health Sciences University on Monday, January 23.

The need for more doctors in the country prompted the PNG National Doctors Association (PNG NDA) to petition the government to establish the university.

The petition was to ask the government to convert the University of PNG’s School of Medical Health Science (SMHS) Taurama Campus into a stand-alone university.

The 30 academics at the University of Papua New Guinea School of Medicine and Health Sciences commenced one week stop work today.

The protest is due to the delay in backdated awards; the awards payment of over K5.6 million dates back to January 1, 2014.

The Award is a legal document that the Government has signed as a commitment to pay doctors a certain amount of benefit.

The academic staff met on Monday to discuss the delay of the payments and have decided to stop work after many meetings and verbal assurance from the Government.

The country currently employs only 15,000 health workers when the actual need is 55,000.

Health Secretary Pascoe Kase said the proposed standalone University of Medicine and Health Science will help decrease the current doctor to patient ratio of 1 doctor to 17,000 people.

Kase said the Government aims to produce more doctors in the country by converting the University of PNG’s School of Medicine to a standalone University of Medicine and Health Science.

PNG NDA president Dr James Naipo said, the doctor’s association which has been vocal for the last three years have been fighting for the UPNG Facility of Medicine to become a standalone university and this is part of the agreement signed by both governments.   

He added that in many rural areas there are no doctors and the decision is a move in the right direction.

Under the agreement the stand alone university will access direct funding from the Treasury Department which will result in more intakes and more doctors graduating.

PNG National Doctors Association (NDA) have petitioned the Government to convert the University of PNG’s School of Medical Health Science (SMHS) Taurama Campus into a stand-alone university.

PNG NDA president Dr James Naipao said this will come to fulfillment and they’re proud of this achievement.

Naipao had informed Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the Government for the need to rejuvenate the SMHS with its own funding and make it into a stand-alone medical university.