Dr Paki Molumi, Chief Executive Officer, Port Moresby General Hospital, Metro South Chief Executive Noelle Cridland, Prof Nakapi Tefuarani, Executive Dean, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of PNG and Dr Mahmood Siddiqi, Chairman School of Medicine and Health Sciences, ICT, University of PNG.
With potentially the highest rates of cancer incidence in the developing Pacific region, Papua New Guinea's inability to collect data on cancer patients or maintain a national cancer registry was impacting their ability to track disease prevalence and plan accordingly. Until now.
Thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding with Metro South Health, signed last month, a PNG National Cancer Registry will be developed by Metro South's Cancer Alliance Queensland (CAQ) team before the end of the year.
Mick Anderson, Manager Technologies, CAQ said eHealth Queensland and Metro South's Clinical Informatics team played a critical role in the services Cancer Alliance Queensland provides. "We rely heavily on eHealth's servers, backend support, and help with cyber security. eHealth Gateways also play a vital role in our operations, providing connectivity to Pathology and Radiology providers across Queensland," he said.
"The CAQ team has national reputation for its work in the cancer safety space and has always led the way with its innovations. Software developed by CAQ is currently used throughout public and private facilities in both Queensland and Victoria with other states showing interest in our solutions, which wouldn't be available without the support from eHealth," Michael said.
Importantly, the new solution and associated support services will bring the power of data to PNG. "Without data we cannot plan", Dr Paki Molumi, Chief Executive Officer of the Port Moresby General Hospital said. Dr Molumi, who trained at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, said that having access to CAQ systems will allow PNG's Department of Health to plan cancer care across the country.