Defence Minister Linda Reynolds makes heartbreaking visit to Okapa district hospital
Australian troops are on a mission to help a remote hospital after Defence Minister Linda Reynolds was left shocked by the lack of basic amenities.
National
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Australian SAS special forces will make a mercy dash to PNG’s Eastern Highlands on a reconnaissance mission to help a remote local district hospital without running water, medicines or even mattresses.
The move came after Defence Minister Linda Reynolds visited the Okapa district province of her PNG ministerial counterpart Saki Soloma and was so moved by the lack of basic amenities.
Pregnant women were walking hours for help, patients were bringing their own mattresses or lying on beds without any and there was no running water.
She sat with many in the “wards” including a one-month-old child suffering pneumonia.
Mr Soloma, escorting the senator with a hospital nurse, conceded there were challenges in his electorate including funding and infrastructure.
Senator Reynolds was to ask her Defence administration whether Special Forces, due for specialist jungle training in PNG in coming weeks, could be redeployed after their mission to evaluate the Okapa District Hospital.
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The elite SAS squad are not only highly trained in behind enemy lines warfare, notably in Afghanistan and Iraq, but are self-sustainable and can also perform detailed reconnaissance assessments on infrastructure and medical needs for engineers and other units to follow.
The PNG-based head of the Australian Defence staff Colonel James Kidd said there was a Special Forces exercise soon to be held in PNG that could be tasked.
“The state of the hospital is pretty poor and our minister is looking for a way of a relatively quick response and evaluation of that village’s (hospital) need,” he said, adding they had medical skills and could carry out resource and infrastructure assessments.
“I myself walked through that community hospital and saw young and old women, men and children, very sick, one with very badly broken legs and they were lying on beds with no mattresses and it’s very hard to walk past that without wanting to make some form of difference and while the defence program (with PNG) is based on the defence force we are always looking for opportunities to ensure there are benefits for the local community.”
As she departed the hospital, Senator Reynolds said “from my heart and my family to yours, we will come back and we will work out what more we can do for you here. I look forward to coming back.
Six Australian senior ministers including Senator Reynolds, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Foreign Minister Marise Payne will meet with PNG counterparts on Monday in Port Moresby for the Australia-PNG ministerial forum where the countries will discuss among other things Australia making a multimillion-dollar loan – potentially the first of its kind for two decades – to its nearest neighbour to service Budget debts.