Australia has provided one year's supply of cancer medication to hospitals in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to ensure that seriously ill patients can receive treatment.
Two hundred and sixty boxes of medical provisions have been delivered to Port Moresby General Hospital and ANGAU Memorial Hospital in Lae, including a range of chemotherapy supplies and associated drugs used to counter its side-effects.
The supplies are critical to the ongoing provision of oncology services at both hospitals and will ensure that current patients are able to continue their treatments and new patients can start a course of medication.
In 2011, Australia distributed 16,060 boxes of medical supplies to 706 health centres and 2,101 aid posts–over 95 per cent of all health facilities in PNG. Australia has also procured more than $24 million worth of essential medical supplies for delivery to all health facilities in PNG in 2012 and 2013.
Essential medical supplies are critical to saving women's lives in childbirth and treating pneumonia in young children at the earliest time possible. In the past this has been a major problem in PNG–essential drugs in health facilities were out of stock for more than half of the year in 2010.
At the request of the PNG Government, AusAID is working with the National Department of Health to address longer-term issues in this area, including the management of these supplies, safe handling and improving larger-scale procurement systems.
The establishment of an independent procurement authority will be an important step to ensure the regular supply of quality-assured essential medical supplies to rural health facilities and hospitals across the country.