Infant and maternal death isn’t new to Papua New Guinea. Every year the statistics increase. Since 2011, statistics supplied by international health organisations like UNICEF reveal daunting results.
Statistical estimates suggest that at least 1, 000 deaths happen in every 100, 000 live births every year. This is the total number of babies born alive in Western Australia.
“In Australia, the infant and maternal mortality is one tenth of what we have in Papua New Guinea,” said Dr Basil Marasinghe, executive dean of the School of Science at the University of Goroka.
Much of the blame has been levelled against poor service delivery. Over the years, the Papua New Guinean government has been seen as the main deliverer of the basic services.
But the government has fallen short in fully achieving its goals due to poor service delivery mechanisms within its' provincial and local level governments. Even if they are functioning, shortage of qualified medical personnel has been a major hurdle.
Affiliated institutions like the University of Goroka have taken on and shared the responsibility of the national government.
On Friday, the University of Goroka commissioned a new building for its health and midwifery division – a donation from the Australian government.
The institution seeks to educate midwives with an aim of contributing towards minimising PNG's high infant and maternal death rate.
“Papua New Guinea is listed second to Afghanistan with leading statistics of mothers and babies dying,” said Pola, a midwifery lecturer.
These women are the cream of the midwifery in Papua New Guinea. Recently graduated from the faculty, they will form the network of midwives from all over the country.
Some of them have come from remote places with limited access to basic health services.
In Papua New Guinea, the predominant health sector which isn’t working, drives up a steady increase of mothers and babies dying every year.
“What we are doing is assisting in reducing these statistics through our academic programs,” said Dr Gairo Onagi, vice chancellor of the University of Goroka.
The infant and maternal death statistics provided are of those in towns, cities and places nearest to urban settings. Statistics from rural areas, for the most, go unreported.
While moves have been taken to address the issue of infant and maternal deaths, many say it is still a long way off for Papua New Guinea as a nation.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tRUFrpcxEyw%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
previous post