Madang's Provincial Hospital has scaled down its services after receiving less than 10% of the medical supplies it ordered over the past seven months.
Madang Provincial Health Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Martin Damen said the shortage had made it increasingly difficult for health workers to provide normal services to patients.
He said the hospital places orders for more than 1,000 medical items, but deliveries from January to July have been far below the quantities required.
āOf those 1,000 items, we get supplied only 10% of those items required for normal service to operate,ā Dr. Damen said.
The shortage has affected essential medicines and medical consumables, including painkillers, antibiotics, gauze and syringes.
Specialist medicines used in the operating theatre, labour ward and intensive care unit are also running low.
Dr. Damen said the shortage has created a serious risk of patient care and forced the health authority to conserve its remaining supplies.
As a result, the hospital will now prioritise emergency cases only.
Stable patients who can walk into the hospital will be assessed and, where appropriate, given prescriptions to purchase medicines from private pharmacies.
Dr Damen said the provincial health authority was not responsible for the shortage, pointing instead to problems within the national medical supply chain.
