By Vicky Baunke in Goroka, EHP
Expectant mothers in Eastern Highlands Province are set to benefit from improved maternal and diagnostic services following the arrival of a new ultrasound scanner and essential medical equipment at the ANC Kama Clinic in Goroka.
The equipment is expected to strengthen early diagnosis, maternal monitoring and referral services while reducing the need for expectant mothers to travel elsewhere for essential diagnostic care.
The ultrasound scanner was delivered with freight and delivery assistance from the MOFA Foundation and organised by the MOLA Foundation through Rotary International, in partnership with The SHARE Project Australia.
The donation forms part of a larger shipment of medical equipment coordinated by the MOFA Foundation and is being positioned as a practical response to gaps in health service delivery in the province.
Eastern Highlands Provincial Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Pomuso Warima said the equipment would strengthen the province’s capacity to provide essential health services to mothers, children and families.
He said the support demonstrated the importance of partnerships between government health authorities, community organisations and international partners in strengthening health services.
“The Government alone cannot do it. We need partners like MOFA Foundation who understand the needs on the ground and take action,” Dr Warima said.
He said the equipment would improve diagnostic capability, strengthen clinical care and provide health workers with the tools needed to serve communities.
Head of the Obstetric and Gynaecology Department, Dr Freda Wemin, said the equipment could make a critical difference for mothers presenting with complications.
She said women arriving at health facilities could face difficult circumstances, with some travelling for hours before reaching medical care.
“In those critical moments, having the right equipment makes the difference between life and death,” Dr Wemin said.
She said the new equipment would assist health workers to monitor mothers, conduct safer deliveries and provide better care for newborns.
The donation includes a blood bank refrigerator, examination beds, paediatric scales, wheelchairs, surgical gowns, protective goggles and a range of clinical tools.
The additional equipment is expected to benefit patient care across multiple health facilities in Eastern Highlands by strengthening emergency response, infection control and day-to-day clinical operations.
Hospital Manager Dr Joseph Kuk said the donation addressed some of the operational gaps facing health services as demand for care continues to increase.
He said medical equipment was the backbone of hospital operations and the consignment would help ease pressure on health workers while improving patient outcomes.
“This support from MOFA Foundation directly addresses some of our most pressing operational gaps,” Dr Kuk said.
He assured the foundation that the equipment would be properly maintained and used for its intended purpose of serving the people of Eastern Highlands.
MOFA Foundation Director Nina Giheno said the value of the donation should not only be measured in monetary terms but by the lives it could help save.
“This donation is not only measured in Kina, but in the lives it will help save and the hope it brings to our communities,” Ms Giheno said.
The SHARE Project, managed by Jenny Foster in Australia, oversaw the logistics of transporting a 40-foot container of equipment to Papua New Guinea, while Rotary partners covered freight and customs costs to ensure the supplies reached Goroka.
For the MOFA Foundation, the initiative also represents the expansion of an organisation that began nine years ago as a grassroots food ministry and has since developed into a link between communities and international partners.
The foundation’s involvement in the health initiative highlights the growing role of community-based organisations and external partners in helping provincial health authorities respond to service-delivery challenges.
The donation was witnessed by representatives from the Goroka District Health Office, hospital management, the Obstetric and Gynaecology and Radiology departments, Rotary Club Goroka Branch, MOFA Foundation and staff of the ANC Kama Clinic.
