A Government delegation is expected to travel to Cuba to look at training for our health workers.
This will also see the recruitment of specialist doctors who can serve in Papua New Guinea’s rural areas.
Health Secretary, Pascoe Kase says proper screening for recruitment will be conducted, to meet the set requirements.
This is a decision made by the department because of the shortage of doctors in the country.
Kase said that Papua New Guinea is in the dire need for more doctors. While planning is taking place to rebuild tertiary institutions, meantime, recruitment has to be conducted from overseas.
“In the meantime, we have to recruit doctors from abroad, to come and help Papua New Guineans. The idea is to get an idea with the kind of professional who can come and live in the rural areas, especially in our district hospitals, that are not accessible by our doctors at the moment.
“So the idea is to get at least two doctors per facility that has the capacity,” Kase said.
EMTV also queried why Cuba was chosen.
Kase says it has the expertise in capacity with training and can mobilise the kind of workers who can work in a rural setting in primary health care.
“People, who can come, live and work in a rural facility. So Cubans are trained to work in rural settings, and that is why we chose them.
“At the same time, Cuban doctors are not that expensive like other locations. With the current financial constraints, we cannot afford doctors from other locations that are very costly,” he said.
The National Health Department’s strategies and policy calls for more positions to be created.
The Personnel Management Department is aware of this because they have the power and authority to approve new positions.
