440 new doctors placed in Irian

440 new doctors placed in Irian

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: The government has placed 440 medical personnel throughout the province over the past year in an effort to improve the health of local residents.

Suyono, a spokesman for the provincial health office, said yesterday that of the number deployed, 236 of the doctors are general practitioners, 64 are dentists and the rest nurses and administrators.

Irian Jaya needs many more doctors to manage village health centers scattered around isolated villages across Indonesia's second largest island.

Currently, one doctor alone manages an average of three health centers. To overcome the shortage, the government has also employed part-time medical personnel, Antara reported.

Over the past year, the local government has recruited 402 midwives and plans to employ more so that all subdistricts have at least one midwife by the end of 1997, Suyono said. (pan)