Village Health Volunteers improve community health in Papua New Guinea

Trained Village Health Volunteers are critical in Papua New Guinea communities. The Post-Courier (www.postcourier.com.pg) highlights their key multiple roles including birth attendants, anti-malarial medicine and bed-net distributors, providers of family planning information and advice, alert to preventative measures, health administrators, nutritional needs assessors, recommenders of regular health checks, immunization administrators, health campaigners, and health data collectors.

Health Department initiatives aim to empower communities to monitor and respond to their own health needs, to keep their communities clean and healthy, and to be advocates for health and well-being. VHVs also link communities to appropriate government services and health facilities.

Diseases and ailments such as malaria, influenza, diarrhoea, and skin problems are still common in communities, requiring prompt interventions. Rural and remote communities also have many challenges, such as distances to health clinics and services, the availability of medicines and treatments, and the availability of health workers and doctors.

Nutrition also plays a key role in the health of communities, especially pregnant women, new mothers, babies, young children, the elderly, and the disabled. Food is grown in village gardens. Families undertake cash cropping on a small scale in small plantations of coconut trees to make copra to sell. They also maintain small scale cocoa blocks. Cocoa is harvested and dried or sold as wet beans. Money from the purchases buy imported foods such as rice, tinned fish and other proteins, as well as soap and clothes. Even though food is generally abundant, many pregnant women show signs of anaemia.

The National Health Plan 2011-2020 highlights the government’s intention to strengthen the country’s health system through improved collaboration between formal health services and community-based initiatives.