Health care facilities are far from adequate and need immediate improvement, said Agung, who is on an eight-day visit to the region at the head of a delegation of high ranking officials from Jakarta.
Agung said he had visited hospitals, and other health care facilities in Sorong, Nabire, Jayapura and Merauke.
He said some of the facilities date back to the Dutch colonial time and need renovation.
"The condition of health care facilities in Papua need serious addressing," he said here on Saturday.
He noted all hospitals in Papua are below standard, saying some hospitals do not even have X Ray machine.
He said some sets of health equipment sent from Jakarta were left idle either because qualified operators and building not available, or power supply not sufficient.
He said Papua and Papua Barat need immediate improvement of health care facilities especially as the two regions are not yet free from common diseases.
Death rate is still high because of malaria, tuberculosis, and even HIV/AIDs, he added.
Yesterday, the Papua health office warns against the rapid spread of HIV/AIDs in the region.
Head of the provincial health office drg Josef Rinta said HIV/ADIs cases are alarmingly high in Papua and Papua Barat with more than 13,000 people infected by the deadly disease.
Agung said health service facilities in Papua and Papua Barat need to be improved before the government implement its program of National Social Security System all over the country in 2014.
(H-ASG/B003)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
