HEALTH CRISIS IN PNG

Papua New Guinea is the largest nation in the Pacific Ocean, but the shortage of doctors and health care workers there is critical. Almost seven million people live in widely scattered rural areas, making access to health services difficult. According to the World Health Organisation, PNG’s major health problems are: communicable diseases – malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory disease being the major causes of morbidity and mortality; high child mortality rates compared to other Asia Pacific countries; a high maternal mortality rate; and an HIV epidemic mainly by heterosexual transmission.