JAYAPURA – Opportunities for cross-border health service cooperation are beginning to open between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The Papua New Guinea Department of Health, together with Vanimo Hospital in West Sepik Province, has begun exploring cooperation with the Papua Provincial Government through Jayapura Regional General Hospital.

Acting Director of RSUD Jayapura, Andreas Pekey, said the visit was still in the initial stage to assess the readiness of services and facilities owned by the Papua Provincial Government hospital.

According to Andreas, the team from Papua New Guinea reviewed various aspects of service delivery, including health facilities, hospital capacity, and the availability of medical personnel and human resources.

"We have just received a visit as part of an initial exploration. They looked at what our services are like, what facilities we have, and the human resources available. After that, they will determine the type of cooperation they need," he said.

He explained that the potential areas of cooperation are quite broad, particularly in referral health services for Papua New Guinean communities living in border areas.

One possible scheme is the referral of patients from hospitals in Papua New Guinea to RSUD Jayapura if the required specialist services are not yet available in that country.

For example, patients with heart disease or certain medical cases that cannot yet be handled in Papua New Guinea's border areas could be referred to Jayapura to receive advanced health care services.

"If the scheme is implemented, the hospital will prepare various supporting needs, including interpreters to assist communication between patients and health workers," Andreas said.

According to him, the cooperation has the potential not only to improve access to health services for communities in border areas, but also to strengthen relations between health institutions in the two countries.

Papua New Guinea's trust in exploring cooperation with RSUD Jayapura is closely linked to the quality of services provided by the hospital. Currently, RSUD Jayapura has obtained plenary accreditation, or five-star accreditation, the highest rating in Indonesia's national hospital accreditation system.

With this accreditation, RSUD Jayapura is considered to have the capacity to become one of the health referral centers in the Indonesia–Papua New Guinea border region. ***