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Remote clinics in PNG lack access to water and electricity

Across Papua New Guinea, health facilities face increasing numbers of patients while dealing with understaffing and insufficient medical supplies. In more remote regions, this is exacerbated by a lack of reliable electricity and safe water. Without these basic services, it becomes difficult for clinics to provide care through the night, as well as provide sufficient access to safe water for hygienic health practices.

Meanwhile, clinics in remote areas also face shortages in supplies. Insufficient maintenance supplies and training to fix a broken water tank increases vulnerability to water insecurity. Likewise, a lack of sufficient medical supplies reduces the care that a clinic is able to provide, and can exacerbate medical conditions by requiring patients to travel further to the next health facility to access that care.

Anglican Missions has been working alongside the Diocese of Waiapu in Aotearoa and the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea (ACPNG) to connect with two different health facilities in Papua New Guinea which are in great need of infrastructure upgrades, including electricity systems, emergency water storage, and insufficient medical supplies.

This project seeks to meet those needs by providing maintenance of broken infrastructure, upgrading electricity and water services, supplying needed medical equipment, and working with Parishes to enhance local capacity and disaster preparedness.

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Movi Health Center, Siane

Movi Clinic

Movi Health Center, located in Siane in the Eastern highland Province, is a small clinic that serves approximately 27 rural mountain communities in the Aipo Tongo Diocese. The clinic is a vital lifeline to around 6,000 people, as access to government health services is extremely limited in this region.

The clinic is operated by extremely commited local staff, however they currently lack access to water, power, and basic medical supplies, meaning service cannot be administered during the night when there is no electricity for lighting.

Katereda (St. Margaret's) Hospital, Oro Bay

Katereda Hospital

Katereda (St. Margaret’s) hospital, located in Oro Bay in the Popondetta Diocese, is a long-established Anglican facility serving both urban and rural catchments. It serves approximately 25,000 people across 6 different villages through both outpatient and maternal health services.

While the hospital is currently helping thousands of people, it is also dealing with broken water systems, ageing infrastructure, intermittent electricity, insufficient safe water, and shortages of essential equipment and consumables.

Parishes and Health Facilities

In the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, mission centres on the principles of Preach, Teach and Heal. The three are inseparable and are visibly interconnected in the lives of communities around PNG.

The communities and the work of Movi Health Center and Katereda Hospital are not separate from the work of the proclamation of faith and the nurturing of faith in believers. Unlike a secular health provider funded by the government or a private business, as is common in the West, these two health centres have a long Anglican history and are well-known to have been established by the Anglican Church in response to the needs of the community.

As such, this project will also address community needs in the Preach and Teach areas through parish-led medical infrastructure maintenance and health center coordination, in order to more comprehensively improve health center effectiveness and community cohesion.