{"author_link":"\/users\/nazriel","author_name":"nazriel","author_uid":"nazriel","comments":[],"epoch":1616912184,"event":"LD48","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":235511,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"152422","p_author":"nazriel","p_authorkey":"1235492","p_urlkey":"369270","p_title":"This country only has about 500 doctors for 9 million people. Now it's dealing w","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD48","p_time":"1616912184","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1235492","us_name":"nazriel","us_username":"nazriel","event_start":"1619222400","event_key":"109","event_name":"Ludum Dare 48"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD48","removed_author":false},"_superparent":233335,"_trust":-1000,"author":235492,"body":"Reva-Lou Reva is worried. For the first time he can remember, he says hospitals around the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are so overburdened they are closing their doors to patients.\n\n\u201cThis is very frightening, to know that you don\u2019t have any medical facilities open, or very limited, and you cannot easily access them because of the restriction,\u201d says Reva, 48, PNG assistant country director of program support for humanitarian non-profit CARE International. \u201cI\u2019m breathless, I can\u2019t explain how difficult it is.\u201d\n\nUntil recently, PNG had largely managed to stave off a major coronavirus outbreak. At the end of February, the country had only reported 1,275 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.\n\nBut over the past month, cases have more than tripled. PNG has now reported at least 4,660 Covid-19 cases and 39 related deaths, including that of MP Richard Mendani, who died age 53 earlier this month, according to a Radio New Zealand report. On Friday, the country reported 560 new infections \u2014 its highest for a single day \u2014 with Prime Minister James Marape admitting there is \u201crampant community transmission.\u201d\n\nWhile those figures might not seem high compared to other countries, they pose a major issue in PNG, where the government says there are only about 500 doctors for an estimated population of 9 million people. At the best of times, the country\u2019s health system is fragile \u2014 now NGOs are warning it could be on the \u201cverge of collapse.\u201d\n\nLow testing rates also mean PNG\u2019s case load is likely much higher \u2014 something authorities acknowledge. Meanwhile, rampant misinformation in the country means some people are still not taking the threat seriously.\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/watch-attack-on-titan-s4e16-hd\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/attack-on-titan-full-episodes\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/hd-attack-on-titan-s4e16-online\nOnlookers warn the crisis could worsen next week as people in the predominantly Christian nation travel home for Easter \u2014 and are calling on neighboring Australia and New Zealand to do more to help.\n\n\u201cPapua New Guinea\u2019s health crisis has now reached the level we feared it would a year ago with a surge in cases,\u201d Amnesty International\u2019s Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said earlier this month. \u201cA combination of an ailing health system and inadequate living conditions has created a perfect storm for Covid-19 to thrive in the country\u2019s overcrowded informal settlements.\u201d\n\nFor almost a year, PNG seemed to handle the outbreak well.\n\nThe country confirmed its first case on March 20 last year \u2014 an man who had traveled from Spain. Within two days, the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency, stopping all incoming and domestic flights, and limiting travel between provinces.\nOnlookers and the government were concerned an outbreak in PNG would be disastrous.\n\n\u201cOur country does not have a health system that is capable of defending our people in this time of emergency with the threat of the coronavirus entering and spreading in our country,\u201d Prime Minister Marape said in Parliament on April 2. At the time, he said PNG had 500 doctors, fewer than 4,000 nurses, under 3,000 community health workers and only 5,000 hospital bed spaces. \u201cOur existing health capacity is insufficient to fight this battle,\u201d he added.\n\nPNG has one of the lowest ratios of doctors per 1,000 people in the world. According to 2018 World Bank figures, the country had 0.07 physicians per 1,000 people \u2014 well below the 2017 average among small Pacific Islands (0.5), the 2017 world average (1.6), or the 2017 level in the United States (2.6).\n\nFor a while, PNG\u2019s measures appeared to work. It took until February this year for the country to reach 1,000 cases. But Covid-19 was likely circulating under the radar, says Justine McMahon, PNG country director for CARE.\n\u201cIt\u2019s been here for months,\u201d McMahon said. She added that up until a month ago, people were quite ambivalent about the Covid-19 pandemic, but \u201cthere\u2019s a growing sense of trepidation everywhere.\u201d\n\nread more:\n\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/anime-attack-on-titan-online\nhttps:\/\/myanimelist.net\/blog.php?eid=847686","comments":0,"created":"2021-03-28T06:15:48Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":235511,"love":0,"meta":[],"modified":"2021-03-28T06:16:24Z","name":"This country only has about 500 doctors for 9 million people. Now it's dealing w","node-timestamp":"2021-03-28T06:16:24Z","parent":235493,"parents":[1,5,9,233335,235493],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/$235493\/this-country-only-has-about-500-doctors-for-9-million-people-now-its-dealing-w","published":"2021-03-28T06:16:24Z","scope":"public","slug":"this-country-only-has-about-500-doctors-for-9-million-people-now-its-dealing-w","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":715607},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"235511","n_urlkey":"369270","n_parent":"235493","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/$235493\/this-country-only-has-about-500-doctors-for-9-million-people-now-its-dealing-w","n_slug":"this-country-only-has-about-500-","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"235492","n_created":"1616912148","n_modified":"1616912184","n_version":"715607","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/$235493\/this-country-only-has-about-500-doctors-for-9-million-people-now-its-dealing-w","text":"Reva-Lou Reva is worried. For the first time he can remember, he says hospitals around the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) are so overburdened they are closing their doors to patients.\n\n\u201cThis is very frightening, to know that you don\u2019t have any medical facilities open, or very limited, and you cannot easily access them because of the restriction,\u201d says Reva, 48, PNG assistant country director of program support for humanitarian non-profit CARE International. \u201cI\u2019m breathless, I can\u2019t explain how difficult it is.\u201d\n\nUntil recently, PNG had largely managed to stave off a major coronavirus outbreak. At the end of February, the country had only reported 1,275 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.\n\nBut over the past month, cases have more than tripled. PNG has now reported at least 4,660 Covid-19 cases and 39 related deaths, including that of MP Richard Mendani, who died age 53 earlier this month, according to a Radio New Zealand report. On Friday, the country reported 560 new infections \u2014 its highest for a single day \u2014 with Prime Minister James Marape admitting there is \u201crampant community transmission.\u201d\n\nWhile those figures might not seem high compared to other countries, they pose a major issue in PNG, where the government says there are only about 500 doctors for an estimated population of 9 million people. At the best of times, the country\u2019s health system is fragile \u2014 now NGOs are warning it could be on the \u201cverge of collapse.\u201d\n\nLow testing rates also mean PNG\u2019s case load is likely much higher \u2014 something authorities acknowledge. Meanwhile, rampant misinformation in the country means some people are still not taking the threat seriously.\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/watch-attack-on-titan-s4e16-hd\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/attack-on-titan-full-episodes\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/hd-attack-on-titan-s4e16-online\nOnlookers warn the crisis could worsen next week as people in the predominantly Christian nation travel home for Easter \u2014 and are calling on neighboring Australia and New Zealand to do more to help.\n\n\u201cPapua New Guinea\u2019s health crisis has now reached the level we feared it would a year ago with a surge in cases,\u201d Amnesty International\u2019s Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said earlier this month. \u201cA combination of an ailing health system and inadequate living conditions has created a perfect storm for Covid-19 to thrive in the country\u2019s overcrowded informal settlements.\u201d\n\nFor almost a year, PNG seemed to handle the outbreak well.\n\nThe country confirmed its first case on March 20 last year \u2014 an man who had traveled from Spain. Within two days, the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency, stopping all incoming and domestic flights, and limiting travel between provinces.\nOnlookers and the government were concerned an outbreak in PNG would be disastrous.\n\n\u201cOur country does not have a health system that is capable of defending our people in this time of emergency with the threat of the coronavirus entering and spreading in our country,\u201d Prime Minister Marape said in Parliament on April 2. At the time, he said PNG had 500 doctors, fewer than 4,000 nurses, under 3,000 community health workers and only 5,000 hospital bed spaces. \u201cOur existing health capacity is insufficient to fight this battle,\u201d he added.\n\nPNG has one of the lowest ratios of doctors per 1,000 people in the world. According to 2018 World Bank figures, the country had 0.07 physicians per 1,000 people \u2014 well below the 2017 average among small Pacific Islands (0.5), the 2017 world average (1.6), or the 2017 level in the United States (2.6).\n\nFor a while, PNG\u2019s measures appeared to work. It took until February this year for the country to reach 1,000 cases. But Covid-19 was likely circulating under the radar, says Justine McMahon, PNG country director for CARE.\n\u201cIt\u2019s been here for months,\u201d McMahon said. She added that up until a month ago, people were quite ambivalent about the Covid-19 pandemic, but \u201cthere\u2019s a growing sense of trepidation everywhere.\u201d\n\nread more:\n\nhttps:\/\/www.getrevue.co\/profile\/anime-attack-on-titan-online\nhttps:\/\/myanimelist.net\/blog.php?eid=847686","title":"This country only has about 500 doctors for 9 million people. Now it's dealing w","wayback_source":[]}