East Are’are women calls for better health services
By Sharon Nanau
Women in East Are’Are constituency in Malaita province have called for better health services amidst the elections.
Mary Rihumane from Arakao village said despite having Masupa clinic in their area, the travelling distance to the clinic is still far.
She said it is unacceptable for women and children to travel long distances and not receive the health care they need because there is no nurse and medicine at the clinic.
“We do not live near the clinic and when our children get sick, we make the long journey to the clinic only to be told that there is no medicine or nurse. This leaves us with no choice but to return with our children.”
Mrs. Rihumane adds women find it hard to visit their second closest health centre in Tarapaina as it requires hiring of boat and paying of fuel.
“Our children are left unattended, and their is little we can do for them but only apply local herbal medicines as we don’t have the money for transport to Tarapaina or Afio.”
The lack of nurse’s and medicine experienced by the population in and around the Masupa area is a common scenario seen throughout the constituency.
Hautahe village despite having a proper clinic and nurse house it has been without a nurse for more than a year.
A nurse was only stationed at the village early this year.
Hautahe Clinic
It was also raised by the villagers that nurses usually take more than two months when taking their annual or compassionate leave.
Patricia Ikehenna of Hautahe village said it is frustrating to have communities take the initiative to build proper health facilities and not have people receive the health services they need.
“We have a health clinic here in our village but it was only early this year that we were able to get a nurse. For the past year we pay for panadols and treat our sickly with home medicines despite having a clinic.”
It is called on that whoever wins the East Are’Are constituency seat in this joint election should seriously look into ensuring there is effective and immediate health service delivery within the constituency.
The women said it is them and the children that are severely affected by the poor accessibility of the health services.
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