Docs hampered

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

PAPUA New Guinean specialist doctors at the Port Moresby General Hospital cannot do life-saving operations because of lack of specialist medical equipment.
Doctors at POMGH are cannibalising equipment to treat patients.
For example, a drill used by surgeons to cut through skull for major neurosurgery has been reused 100 times when in advanced countries it is a no-go zone as it carries the risk of infections.
The Post-Courier was fortunate to be given the rare opportunity to visit the POMGH operating theatre last Friday where a three-month old baby went under the knife for a by-pass – inserting a tube from the brain to the stomach to release excess fluid from his brain.
Three-month old Simeon Joshua was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, where access fluid from his brain cannot pass through the spinal cord. It is fatal if not treated.
Dr Niure Badia discovered the young patient in Oro and in consultation with neurosurgeon Dr Sammy Thomas flew the baby into Port Moresby.
Last Friday the Australian visiting neurosurgeons Professor Marianne Vonau and Dr Trisha Withers performed an operation known as Ventriculo erictoneal Shint on three-month old Simeon at the Port Moresby general hospital.
The operation is life-saving and the baby can now live a normal life, according to the two surgeons. Dr Badia and Dr Thomas are local PNG surgeons who have used cannibalised pieces of equipment to keep patients alive as until help arrives from visiting specialist surgeons such as Professor Marrianne and Dr Trsiha.
The two Papua New Guinean doctors called on the Government to pump money into the health system to purchase vital life-saving equipment instead of spending millions on HIV/AIDS that is caused by people’s promiscuity and ignorance.