Health
Community Health Worker Scholarships
Like education, there is a large need for more Community Health Workers for the Kokoda Track communities. Community Health Workers are the cornerstone of the PNG health system and provide vital basic healthcare at the village level. The Foundation is currently supporting nine students from villages along the Kokoda Track to train as Community Health Workers at various schools of nursing throughout the country. Once qualified, these community members return to their home village and operate the local aid post. >> Read more about this initiative >>
Community Health Worker Salary Incentives
The Kokoda Track Foundation is also funding the salaries of Community Health Workers along the Track this year to ensure that the aid posts remain open and health services made available to local communities. Working in partnership with the provincial health authorities, the Foundation is supporting recent graduates from its CHW training program to work under supervision in the Kokoda Track aid posts. These CHWs rotate through Efogi, Naduri, Manari, Kagi, Naoro, Sogeri, Abuari, Alola, Kokoda and Buna aid posts. >> Click here to find out more about the CHWS >>
Medical Supplies and Support Program
In 2012, the Foundation is also delivering vital drugs and medical resources to aid posts and health centers in the Kokoda Track catchment area including the Kokoda Memorial Hospital. All too often, Government supplies do not reach the remote communities along the Track and aid posts rely on left-over drugs from passing trekkers, which are often without packaging or instructions. The Foundation delivers appropriate supply kits into posts that are staffed by qualified health workers to administer them properly. >> Discover more about this program >>
Hospital Bed Distribution
In partnership with Rotary Australia, the Foundation recently delivered 100 hospital beds to hospitals and health centers in need throughout the Kokoda Region. Many of these facilities were in urgent need of new beds and often only had beds that were broken and unusable. In some health centers, patients were receiving treatment on the floor. These hospital beds were donated by Australian hospitals and make an enormous difference to the quality of healthcare in PNG. >> Read more about this great project >>