Port Moresby General Hospital's new TB clinic opens

THE Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, recently opened the new standalone Tuberculosis Clinic and Pathology Laboratory at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

In his address, he restated that healthcare remains one of the most important priorities of the government.

“We have continued to invest in healthcare and allocated the biggest resources out of our budget over the last five years,” Mr O’Neill said.

“Our government has been the only one that has fully funded the National Health Plan and this is delivering great change for our people.

“There are many challenges in our country, particularly in the delivery of rural and remote healthcare services, we have limited resources, we all have to work with what we have and deliver for our people.

“It is important that we continue to manage these challenges together and be able to overcome the issues that are confronting our communities.

“Dealing with tuberculosis is a very large issue for many communities right throughout the country, but we must overcome this challenge.

“TB is curable, but we must ensure people who contract the disease seek treatment and see their medication through to the completion of the course.

“The increasing number of patients that are going to get treatment for TB means we are making strong inroads in patient care, but we have to do more.

“People who contract TB and do nothing about it have to realise that their families are at risk of also contracting this infectious disease.

“That is why facilities such as this and getting information out to our communities and our families’ right throughout the country is very important.”

He congratulated the board and management of the hospital for the changes that they have delivered in recent years to deliver an outstanding and a continually improving level of healthcare service.

With the opening of the new clinic and laboratory, the hospital can treat TB patients immediately by analysing from results from tests it obtains from the new laboratory.