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health
A tonic for rural communities Ben Creagh reports on how the corporate world is improving health services in remote parts of the country.
P
apua New Guinea’s rural health system largely depends on aid money, but in recent times there has also been a welcome boost from a number of corporate organisations that have stepped in with their own initiatives, often through collaboration with not-for-profit organisations. In one such case, the Digicel PNG Foundation has grown, since 2008, to include 21 mobile health clinics, two rural health aid posts and three women’s resource centres. This is in addition to the foundation’s presence in the education sector, where it has funded 194 primary school classrooms and 234 elementary school classrooms. The foundation has invested PGK42.5 million into communities across all 22 provinces, directly affecting over 350,000 people.
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Beatrice Mahuru ... the chief executive officer of the Digicel PNG Foundation.