Shortage of ENT specialists as mouth cancer surges

Papua New Guinea is facing a deadly surge in mouth cancer, with many patients losing their lives to the disease.

Yet the country has only 13 Ear, Nose and Throat [ENT] specialists to treat cancers and other conditions of the head and neck.

Port Moresby General Hospital ENT specialist Dr. Osiat Baining revealed the alarming figures during a free medical check for journalists, stressing the urgent need for more trained specialists and resources.

With PNG’s population now exceeding 10 million, the shortage of ENT specialists is concerning.

Dr. Baining said head and neck cancers, including mouth cancer, rank among the nation’s top three deadliest diseases alongside cervical and breast cancer.

“Mouth cancer is one of the three highest incidences in the country, alongside breast and cervical cancer. Only ENT specialists deal with head, neck, and mouth cancers. Unfortunately, we only have 13 specialists serving a population of 10.18 million,” he said.

Globally, the benchmark is one ENT specialist for every 40,000 people. For PNG, however, the ratio is one specialist for every 783,000 people.

To meet international standards, the country would need at least 250 ENT specialists.

“You can imagine the pressure and the challenge we face. Every day patients send me messages asking when they will have their surgery, and it’s very sad when we don’t have the capacity to treat everyone,” Dr. Baining said.

With limited manpower and resources, Dr. Baining is urging the public to undergo oral checks at least twice a year to detect mouth cancer early.

He emphasized that doctors cannot do much once the disease progresses to stage three or four.

“We want to see patients coming in at very early stages, stage one and stage two. Once it reaches stage four, we can’t do much. For stage three and stage four, surgery takes 10 to 14 hours. We only have two theatre days a week, and one surgery takes a whole day. You can only imagine how many people are waiting in line,” he said.