Public health sub-center (Pustu) of Yowong Village – Jubi
Jayapura, Jubi – For the last six months there have been no health workers at the public health sub-center (Pustu) of Yowong Village located alongside of Abepura Highway in Arso Sub-district of Keerom Regency.
The only nurse who serves at the Pustu is currently on study leave.
“Before he continued his study, we asked him to talk to the Health Office to assign another staffer, but no one was assigned to replace him,” a resident Marten Dyan told at home on sunday (15/11/2015).
He said the residents were struggling to get medical treatment if they were ill or got accident. They must take the patients to Arso Swakarsa in Keerom or Abepura Public Hospital in Jayapura Municipality. “It also depends on their ability to pay. Sometimes we use the motorbikes, or sometimes we use the public transportation,” he said.
The Pustu building looks deserted, while the local residents desperately need the medical staff, especially for emergency. Generally, people who are mostly indigenous Papua have high risk of malaria disease. “Well, it is normal for the farmers to often get malaria disease,” he said.
The similar complain also come from the residents of Baboria Village where Pustu has not established yet. To get medical treatment, people should go to Arso 8, Dukwia Village or Arso I, which the distance between two locations is approximately two kilometers. “People used to go to the nearest location by motorbikes, and for those who have no motorbike, they usually asked their neighbors to drop because no public transportation here,” Roy Kogoya, a resident who has 25 years living in the village. (Mawel Benny/rom)
