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.
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