ALISON BRANLEY | Newcastle Herald (NSW)
GAINING access to health care in Papua New Guinea is difficult but becomes even more important when the doctor delivering the services gets sick too.
That is what happened at Goroka Hospital when acting medical services director Dr Kapiro Kendaura suffered kidney failure.
Despite receiving regular dialysis treatment, he was only months from death before the intervention of Hunter New England health infection prevention and control director John Ferguson.
Dr Ferguson travels to PNG each year to teach, and heard of his colleague’s plight.
Some months and a massive community and logistical effort later, Dr Kendaura was flown to John Hunter Hospital to receive a kidney transplant from his brother Steven, a high school teacher.
Dr Kendaura was released from hospital a week after his surgery early this month and will soon return to Goroka where his 100-bed hospital serves some of the 300,000 people who live in the highlands.
‘‘I’m so lucky. I owe the hospital a lot. They spent a lot of time and resources helping me,’’ Dr Kendaura said. ‘‘I don’t know how to thank these people.’’
The surgery was made possible after the health care service offered its services pro bono and hospital staff raised $15,000 for travel, accommodation and medication costs.
The hospital has done work for PNG previously, but nothing as major as a transplant.
‘‘Chronic renal failure is a death sentence in Papua New Guinea,’’ Dr Ferguson said.
Great work Dr Ferguson. Without your intervention this young doctor would not have made it.
People should not die from chronic kidney failure but sadly it is a death sentence in PNG.
The cost of a dialysis machine is probably much less than that of a new land cruiser but due to short sightedness of governments and beauraucrates in the health department, none of the public hospitals in the country have a dialysis machine or renal unit.
What a disgrace and injustice to the 7 million people of PNG! Only one private hospital in this country offers this service at a cost of K800-1000 per session and unfortunately most people cant afford and die after 1-2 sessions only.
i know this because i have lost two close relatives in the past 18 months to chronic kidney failure. It's about time the government looked into this vital service.
Posted by: Frank K Daosak | 28 December 2012 at 12:00 AM