Bush Angels
Life-saving healthcare where there are no hospitals, no clinics, no doctors
In Papua New Guinea, 85% of the population lives in rural and remote communities – hours, sometimes days, from the nearest hospital. Aid posts have closed. Outreach services have dried up. And when a mother finds a lump, or a child’s eyesight starts to fail, or a woman develops symptoms she doesn’t yet understand – there is nowhere to go.
By the time most people reach a hospital, it is too late.
Cancer that could have been treated has spread. TB that could have been caught has taken hold. Complications in pregnancy that could have been managed have turned deadly.
The Bush Angels exist to change that story – and your generosity is what makes it possible.
What the Bush Angels do
Bush Angels are mobile medical units that travel by Landcruiser and boat into communities that have been forgotten by the health system. They bring primary healthcare, cancer and TB screening, and antenatal care directly to the people who need it most – in the village, on the island, in the bush.
But this is more than a first-aid kit on wheels.
The Bush Angels combine three things that set them apart: the willpower to go – to hike the hill, cross the water, and keep showing up – and smart medical technology that gives remote communities access to services normally confined to a hospital with pathology diagnostics such as histopathology and biochemistry to support them.
Portable ultrasound. Digital microscopy. Satellite-linked telehealth. Portable X-ray with AI-assisted diagnostics. Defibrillators. Arclight eye screening.
These tools, carried into the bush by trained health workers, are redefining what’s possible in a mobile clinic and redefining the way healthcare is delivered to rural communities.
Since the mobile clinic launched in 2016, it has served remote villages across East New Britain — delivering HIV-AIDS testing and treatment in the early pandemic years, providing general health care to juveniles at Kerevat Prison, and responding to community needs that no other service was reaching. And now, with the Bush Angels model fully developed, the scope of what your support can deliver has grown dramatically.
You don’t just send help. You stay
The cost of reaching one more community
Running a Bush Angels unit means vehicles, fuel, trained health workers, specialist equipment, and consumables. None of it is subsidised by the communities being served.
It is only because donors choose to give that healthcare consistently reaches villages that would otherwise have none.
Your generous gift today will put Bush Angels teams in more villages, screening more families, and catching more cancers before it’s too late.
Cancer screening in the bush
Cancer is a devastating and escalating problem in Papua New Guinea. Over 11,000 new cases are projected for 2026, with 7,900 deaths. Breast cancer, oral cancer, and cervical cancer are among the most common – and in a country where betel nut chewing is widespread, PNG has the highest prevalence of oral cancer in the world.
Most cases are caught far too late. People don’t come to the hospital because of distance, cost, fear, or simply not knowing what’s wrong. The Bush Angels go to them instead – and screen early enough to save lives.
The cancer screening program was designed alongside leading Australian and PNG specialists, including Professor Desmond Yip (Director of Clinical Oncology, Canberra Hospital, ANU) and Dr Chris Arthur (Royal North Shore Hospital and Vunapope Hospital, East New Britain).
It is only because donors choose to give that healthcare consistently reaches villages that would otherwise have none.
From Idea to Impact: The First Lumps Clinics
In Papua New Guinea, 85% of the population lives in rural and remote communities – hours, sometimes days, from the nearest hospital. Aid pIn November 2025, the Bush Angels ran their first dedicated lumps clinics at Tapo Health Centre and on Watom Island to prove that cancer screening could work in remote settings.
86 patients were seen across the two clinics. Six suspected cancers were identified. Two were caught early enough to save a life.
Samples were taken, slides stained on site, and images sent to Port Moresby General Hospital for pathology diagnosis. Dr Chris Arthur, who oversaw the clinics, confirmed that specialist teams could successfully assess and biopsy suspicious lumps in rural settings – and that rapid diagnostics in remote areas are expected to improve health outcomes for cancer patients.
Other ways you can make a difference…
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