Seventeen people from Bougainville, including 13 children, have received cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries through a partnership involving Air Niugini, the Rotary Club of Boroko and a specialist medical team from Port Moresby General Hospital.

The surgical outreach was held at Buka General Hospital last month, with patients as young as nine months old receiving corrective procedures aimed at improving their health, speech development, confidence and quality of life.

Air Niugini supported the medical team by helping transport specialist personnel and equipment to Bougainville, reducing some of the financial and logistical challenges families face when accessing specialist treatment in Port Moresby.

Air Niugini Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alan Milne said the airline was pleased to support programs that improve access to essential healthcare services for communities across Papua New Guinea.

The mission was led by the Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery Unit at Port Moresby General Hospital under Head Surgeon Dr. Jackson Nuli.

Dr. Nuli explained that cleft lip and palate are congenital conditions that can affect appearance, speech and quality of life, with early surgical treatment important for supporting speech development and reducing the impacts of the conditions.

He said bringing specialist services to provincial areas helps reduce the cost and difficulty of travelling to Port Moresby for treatment.

“By bringing these services to the provinces, we are able to reduce that burden and ensure more children receive the care they need closer to home.”

The Bougainville outreach was the team’s second specialist surgical mission to the region since 2025, bringing the total number of cleft surgeries performed there to 32.

The team is scheduled to return to Bougainville in February 2027 for follow-up procedures and ongoing patient care.

Similar outreach surgeries have also been conducted in Southern Highlands, Western Highlands, East New Britain, Morobe, East Sepik and West Sepik provinces over the past three years, with support from partners including Interplast Australia, PAN Australia and the Rotary Club of Boroko.