PM REFUSING TO FUND TB FIGHT WHILE WASTING MONEY ON SHOWPIECE EVENTS
by PAUL REINBARA
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and
Health Minister Michael Malabag are allowing Papua New Guineans to die because
of their refusal to fund the national fight against tuberculosis.
A secret letter from O’Neill to
Malabag shows that the Prime Minister would rather spend money on wasteful
showpieces and events than preventing TB and saving lives.
Cabinet approved urgent
tuberculosis spending of K20 million more than six months ago, but the Prime
Minister is refusing to release the funds.
Instead, he has directed Malabag
to commit K8 million of existing funds.
But this is only for Daru in
Western Province – and TB experts say it is nowhere near enough to tackle the
TB crisis there.
Many more Western Province
people will die because of the refusal
of O’Neill and Malabag to approve new funds for the nationwide TB campaign.
There is also a TB crisis in NCD
and Gulf and Central Provinces.
But O’Neill and Malabag have
decided that people there can die, too.
Meanwhile O’Neill is continuing
his “bread and circus” policy of spending on showpiece events and
infrastructure to distract people from the financial crisis caused by his
corruption, greed and mismanagement.
The “bread and circus” policy is
part of PNC’s campaigning for the 2017 election, and spending is expected to
increase, once again to the detriment of essential spending on health and
education.
The free health and free
education policies are no longer being funded.,
The financial crisis has got so
bad that public servants are no longer being paid their salaries and entitlements
regularly or in full, putting further pressure on the health system
The health crisis is made worse
by O’Neill’s decision to halve funding for church-led programs to about K6
million.
This O’Neill decision in itself
is also causing more deaths and suffering, especially in rural areas. In many
places – for example in Western Province – hospitals and aid posts are closing
and more deaths and suffering have resulted.
O’Neill’s letter to Malabag
calls for the existing funds to be used on a media campaign (more spin and no
action). It also confines action to Daru, despite referring to the crisis in
Gulf and Western.
The
national
Department of Health and the World Health Organisation recently said the
need for the Government to contribute K20 million to a national
campaign was now critical:
“The
problem of TB throughout the country and in particular the Multi-Drug-Resistant
TB situation in three hotspots (National Capital District, Daru and Gulf) is a
matter of great national concern.
“The
problem of MDR-TB in Daru is unprecedented in a population of this size;
containment of MDR-TB in Daru is a matter of the UTMOST URGENCY.
“The
cost of inaction will be catastrophic in terms of lives lost, and astronomical
in terms of financial cost.”
How many more deaths are O’Neill
and his PNC crooks and cronies going to cause?PM's letter to Health Minister