Caritas Australia welcomes over $350,000 raised by Catholic Health Australia and its members to support PNG during COVID-19 crisis
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The money is more needed than ever, as PNG continues to face a devastating outbreak of COVID-19.
More than 11,000 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in PNG, but due to low testing rates the real number is assumed to be much higher. There is currently a lack of available tests as well as long waiting times to receive test results, meaning that there are far more active cases than reported. Although weekly case numbers have started to fall, there are still cases across all provinces, and the already fragile healthcare system is overwhelmed.
Working together to achieve healthcare equity for all
Here in Australia, we’re lucky to be in the midst of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Although it’s too soon to say for certain, we’ve also got better at controlling new outbreaks, and our lockdowns are getting faster and more efficient.
But for people living in Papua New Guinea, one of our closest neighbours, the situation is very different. Since late February, case numbers have been increasing rapidly. In the past week alone, infection numbers have increased exponentially, bringing the total to more than 9300. At least 89 lives have been lost.
Catholic Health Australia
Catholic health and aged care operators are calling on government to create clear lines of communication to avoid the confusion that beset the sectors at the height of the COVID pandemic.
A new review into operations, Lessons Learnt from COVID-19, has found multiple data requests, junior staff in the bureaucracy as contacts, and a surge workforce that was untrained and unprepared to work with COVID-affected patients were some of the challenges facing operators.
The report was compiled by Catholic Health Australia in conjunction with Australian Catholic University, and surveyed executives from four major providers in Victoria: Mercy Health, St John of God Healthcare, St Vincent’s Health Australia and Villa Maria Catholic Homes.
Aged Care RC falls short on meaningful reform
After two years of often harrowing evidence from 450 witnesses and 10,000 submissions, the Royal Commission’s multi-page report has fallen short on a clear path to lasting and meaningful reform.
First, the report failed to spell out how much its reforms will cost, only that aged care will be more expensive than the predictions made in any of the multiple intergenerational reports before it. This inability to provide a proper costing makes it difficult for society and government to assess what is financially viable and what is not.
Second, the report fails to deliver a clear consensus on a way forward. Commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle Briggs disagreed on nearly a third of their recommendations, most notably on governance and funding.