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Caritas Australia is set to roll out a huge shipment of personal protective gear and other assistance to help fight COVID-19 in remote areas of Papua New Guinea.
The relief effort is being paid for by more than $500,000 raised by Caritas earlier this year, including a contribution of $356,000 by Catholic Health Australia and its members.
Caritas says there have now been 17,806 confirmed COVID cases across all 22 PNG Provinces, including 193 deaths, but the true numbers are thought to be much higher.
The Delta strain has been detected and health authorities fear a possible third wave of the pandemic.
PNG’s vaccination rate is at just 1%, one of lowest in the world, with only 02,074 doses of COVID vaccines administered so far.
Health clinics are already running at over-capacity and are under-resourced.
To make things worse, Caritas says there is also a prevalence of misinformation on COVID-19, and widespread vaccine hesitancy.
Unemployment and poverty rates have also increased, and there are reports of sexual and gender-based violence, and sorcery-accusation violence.
Caritas says the PPE has been procured, with the first container load due to arrive in Port Moresby in late September.
It had experienced delays with suppliers, who had found it difficult to confirm the right in-country clearance agent based at the port where the supplies would enter PNG.
There have also been obstacles due to the high international demand for PPE.
Catholic Church Health Services, the health commission under the Catholic Bishops Conference Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, will prioritise the distribution of the PPE to the provinces with the highest rates of COVID-19.
Caritas says CCHS and Christian Health Services have still not received adequate funding from the PNG Government, so the support of CHA and its members has been vital.
