A new campaign from Caritas Australia seeks to upgrade run-down health centres in Papua New Guinea, giving women a safer place to give birth.
In PNG, 580 women die from birthing complications each year, with nine out of 10 of these deaths being preventable. Giving birth at home contributes to this mortality rate but is a symptom of rural health centres being in dire need of improvement.
With 87 per cent of the population living in rural areas and often hundreds of kilometres away from district hospitals, most people in PNG rely on outdated rural health centres.
For expecting mothers, this means making the choice between giving birth at home without medical assistance or attending a health centre that lacks reliable electricity, clean running water, watertight roofing and working medical equipment.
The condition of these health centres also impacts the availability of doctors in rural areas, with just seven doctors trained to deliver comprehensive healthcare in these challenging settings.
Caritas Australia’s new campaign aims to raise $30,000 by the end of November to support upgrades at six rural health centres in PNG.
Nicole Chehine, acting advancement director at Caritas Australia, visited a health centre in Lemakot earlier this year. She said the centre was having work done to repair holes in the roof, the first time it had been attended to since 1987, and had been operating “without running water or electricity and with its equipment in dire need of replacement”.
“The staff there are wonderful, but it is unsurprising that women choose to give birth at home rather than at a health centre that relies on torches and water buckets,” Ms Chehine said.
“There are six health centres in Papua New Guinea with similar issues that need our support and your generosity.”
Details: Caritas Australia’s Safer Births Project.
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Caritas Australia campaign supports safer births in Papua New Guinea (Caritas Australia)
