The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is calling on the Australian Government to immediately address the heightened medical crisis on Nauru, following the arrest and removal of the senior medical officer from the immigration processing centre. 

“The situation on Nauru has reached crisis point and as medical professionals we are deeply, deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the children and their families on Nauru, said Professor Paul Colditz, a paediatrician and President of the Paediatrics and Child Health Division within the RACP.

“Last week Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) was forced to stop providing care on the island and yesterday evening the senior medical officer for Australia’s health contractor, IHMS, was arrested and ordered to leave. 

“The development overnight is further sign that the situation on Nauru is completely untenable and constitutes a medical crisis. 

 “The Australian Government must immediately bring the children and their families to Australia to receive the medical care they desperately and urgently need. 

 “The children and families left on Nauru require an immediate assessment in a specialist tertiary level child health facility, so that their medical, developmental and social-emotional (psychiatric health) can be treated in line with specialist recommendations.  

“As doctors, we pledge to ‘do no harm’ – there is simply no way in our good conscience that we can sit back and watch our Government neglect the plight of these children and their families, who are in dire need of urgent medical support, said Professor Colditz.