PNG Angau hospital Photo: RNZ Pacific
The acting chief executive of Papua New Guinea's Lae hospital says work is being done to upgrade the region's strugglingg rural medical centres.
The Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, PNG's second-largest cityy, is undergoing a dramatic redevelopment funded by Australia, which is expected to be complete within two years.
But the chief executive, David Wisink, said there has to be a corresponding redevelopment of rural health centres.
"It doesn't matter how much money you spend at Angau, if you don't spend money in the districts you still have an influx of people into town," he said.
"So the idea is to work in the district facilities as well, so that they can cater for many of the illnesses and injuries that take place in the districts so that people don't have to come to Angau unless there is a specialist requirement."