Health implications of the PNG ‘solution’

Professor Helen Keleher was among a number of concerned academics and healthcare professionals to provide their opinion on the Government’s announcement of their Assylum Seeker PNG “Solution”, published in ‘Croakey’, the health blog of the independent media publication ‘Crikey.com’.

Professor Keleher expressed concern that asylum seekers who are repatriated to Papua New Guina will not be afforded the same mental health and medical services which the Australian Government currently contracts on Christmas Island.  Papua New Guinea’s existing health system struggles to provide basic services for their own people, let alone the requirements asylum seekers, many of whom have a high level of need for mental health treatment and trauma counselling. Professor Keleher is calling for the same level of medical and mental health services to be provided for asylum seekers repatriated to Papua new Guinea.