The family of 14-year-old Rex Wanzing who died on August 13, 2021 at the Port Moresby General Hospital following an eye operation have been left in the dark on the outcome of the investigation undertaken by the hospital management.
Late Rex’s mother, Mrs Raela Wanzing told PNG Hausbung that the family has been waiting on their son’s death report ever since the toxicology results were released last year.
“According to the hospital management, the report is with the Health Minister and the Prime Minister and we have followed up on that for three weeks now with the Health Minister but have received no good feedback,” Mrs Wanzing said.
“Yesterday, I called the Health Minister again and told him that the family needs a closure on this now since he had been saying time and again to them that they will have a discussion first before releasing the report.”
“He then directed me to the Health Secretary who said the decision will be made by the government based on the report and government advisors are currently assessing the report and will provide advice soon on their recommendations.”
According to the Health Secretary Dr Osborne Liko, the report has been completed and submitted to the government on January 18, 2022.
Port Moresby General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Paki Molumi at the time of Rex’s death said: “This unfortunate event, preliminarily believed to be related to the administration of a batch of anaesthetic, is being investigated by the PMGH clinical audit team.
He said “To ensure that the root cause(s) is identified, an independent investigating committee with clear terms of reference will be sanctioned by the Minister of Health.“
The reference will be directed towards identifying the root cause(s) to clearly establish the exact cause of death.
Prime Minister James Marape two weeks later in Parliament said the government has given full support to the investigation and its’ outcome would be made known as soon as it was completed.
Late Rex, of Morobe and Central Provinces origin was the third born in a family of four and was doing grade seven (7) at Carr Memorial Primary School at the time of his death.