The DHS report itself explains the purpose was, “to obtain and provide information on basic indicators of social progress including fertility, childhood mortality, reproductive and child health, nutritional status of children, and awareness of HIV/AIDS and other health-related issues” in PNG. Th...is is important because a DHS then provides the evidence base for PNG officials themselves to track progress in PNG over time, compare trends with other comparable countries, and then allocate financial and human resources to where they are needed most.
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The 2012 NDRMP lays out the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) architecture of the country and provides guidance for DRM intervention at all levels. However, implementation has been slow and resource challenges exist throughout the government.
The PNG government’s policy and institutional framework... for DRM still faces numerous obstacles. The main challenges in moving towards a more proactive and systematic approach to manage risks and build resilience include 1.) the limited coordination between DRM and Climate Change Adaptation agencies; 2.) the slow migration from emphasis on response to risk reduction and management; 3.) the limited institutional capacity for planning and design of risk informed investments; and 4.) the lack of available historic natural hazard data, which hinders the assessment of risks.
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This report covers research conducted on HIV stigma and discrimination using the Stigma Index in the Papua New Guinea provinces of Western Highlands and Chimbu*. When Igat Hope began the project the aim was to conduct interviews in all regions of PNG. However, due to funding constraints and organis...ational capacities, the Stigma Index has only been applied in one region, that is, the Highlands Region. In future, the hope is to gather comparable data from other regions in PNG. Despite the fact that the overall project aims have not yet been achieved, the data contained in this report provides useful information that can be considered as work continues in PNG on HIV-related stigma and discrimination and human rights.
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Traditional medicine, including the knowledge, skills and practices of holistic health care, exists in all cultures. It is based on indigenous theories, beliefs and experiences and is widely accepted for its role in health maintenance and the treatment of disease.Medicinal plants are the main ingred...ients of local medicines, but rapid urbanization is leading to the loss of many important plants and knowledge of their use. To help preserve this knowledge and recognize the importance of medicinal plants to health care systems, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has published a series of books on Medicinal Plants in China, the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam and the South Pacific. Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea is the fifth in this series. This book covers only a small proportion of the immense knowledge on traditional medicine, the plant species from which they are derived, the diseases they can treat and the parts of the plants to be used. The diverse cultures, languages and traditional practices of Papua New Guinea made this a particularly challenging project. But we believe the information and accompanying references can provide useful information for scientists, doctors and other users.
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The only way to prevent future Ebola epidemics of this magnitude is to address the fundamental social and political vulnerabilities that have allowed the virus to flourish, such as weak health systems and local services, poor governance, chronic poverty, and a legacy of conflict and social divisions
Tell your family and friends in Guinea
Ces affiches et brochures ont été produites en mars 2020 en réponse à la crise du COVID-19.
These posters and brochures were produced in March 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Guinea’s 450 megawatt Souapiti dam, scheduled to begin operating in September 2020, is the most advanced of several new hydropower projects planned by the government of President Alpha Condé. Guinea’s government believes that hydropower can significantly increase access to electricity in a cou...ntry where only a fraction of people have reliable access to power.Souapiti’s output, however, has a human cost. The dam’s reservoir will ultimately displace an estimated 16,000 people from 101 villages and hamlets. The Guinean government had moved 51 villages by the end of 2019 and said it planned to conduct the remaining resettlements within a year. Forced off their ancestral homes and farmlands, and with much of their land already, or soon to be flooded, displaced communities are struggling to feed their families, restore their livelihoods, and live with dignity.
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Health Situation
Health policies and systems
Cooperation for Health
WHO Country Cooperation Strategic Agenda (2008-2013)
Stock-outs of antimalarials cause unnecessary deaths among an estimated 219 million people afflicted worldwide. Good pharmaceutical information systems can avoid stock-outs with timely, accurate data and high reporting rates that ensure the continuous availability of critically-needed antimalarials....
The US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Increased Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program, with support from the US Government’s Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), is working with the Government of Guinea to improve the national malaria reporting system. By the end of September 2013, after only a few months of training in all 19 PMI-supported zones, reporting rates had improved significantly, reaching an average completion rate of 85 percent for health facilities during the previous quarter.
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To guide One Health capacity building efforts in the Republic of Guinea in the wake of the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, we sought to identify and assess the existing systems and structures for zoonotic disease detection and control. We partnered with the government ministries resp...onsible for human, animal, and environmental health to identify a list of zoonotic diseases – rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, viral hemorrhagic fevers, trypanosomiasis and highly pathogenic avian influenza – as the country's top priorities. We used each priority disease as a case study to identify existing processes for prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, laboratory confirmation, reporting and response across the three ministries. Results were used to produce disease-specific systems “maps” emphasizing linkages across the systems, as well as opportunities for improvement. We identified brucellosis as a particularly neglected condition. Past efforts to build avian influenza capabilities, which had degraded substantially in less than a decade, highlighted the challenge of sustainability. We observed a keen interest across sectors to reinvigorate national rabies control, and given the regional and global support for One Health approaches to rabies elimination, rabies could serve as an ideal disease to test incipient One Health coordination mechanisms and procedures. Overall, we identified five major categories of gaps and challenges: (1) Coordination; (2) Training; (3) Infrastructure; (4) Public Awareness; and (5) Research. We developed and prioritized recommendations to address the gaps, estimated the level of resource investment needed, and estimated a timeline for implementation. These prioritized recommendations can be used by the Government of Guinea to plan strategically for future One Health efforts, ideally under the auspices of the national One Health Platform. This work demonstrates an effective methodology for mapping systems and structures for zoonotic diseases, and the benefit of conducting a baseline review of systemic capabilities prior to embarking on capacity building efforts.
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The state of the Guinean health workforce is one of the country’s bottlenecks in advancing health outcomes. The impact of the 2014–2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak and resulting international attention has provided a policy window to invest in the workforce and reform the health system. This re...search constitutes a baseline study on the health workforce situation, professional education, and retention policies in Guinea. The study was conducted to inform capacity development as part of a scientific collaboration between Belgian and Guinean health institutes aiming to strengthen public health systems and health workforce development. It provides initial recommendations to the Guinean government and key actors.
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Over 400,000 girls and women in Guinea-Bissau alive today have experienced FGM. Overall, 52 per cent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years have undergone the practice, varying from 96 per cent in Gabu region to 8 per cent in Biombo
People with Guinea worm disease (GWD) have no symptoms for about 1 year. Then, the person begins to feel ill. Symptoms can include the following:
Slight fever
Itchy rash
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dizziness
A blister then develops. This blister can form anywhere on the skin. However, the blis...ter forms on the lower body parts in 80%–90% of cases. This blister gets bigger over several days and causes a burning pain. The blister eventually ruptures, exposing the worm. The infected person may put the affected body part in cool water to ease the symptoms or may enter water to perform daily tasks, such as fetching drinking water. On contact with water, the worm discharges hundreds of thousands of larvae into the water.
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Considered a neglected tropical disease, Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) is a parasitic infection caused by the nematode roundworm parasite Dracunculus medinensis. It is contracted when people consume water from stagnant sources contaminated with Guinea worm larvae. Inside a human's abdomen, Gu...inea worm larvae mate and female worms mature and grow. After about a year of incubation, the female Guinea worm, one meter long, creates an agonizingly painful lesion on the skin and slowly emerges from the body. Guinea worm sufferers may try to seek relief from the burning sensation caused by the emerging worm and immerse their limbs in water sources, but this contact with water stimulates the emerging worm to release its larvae into the water and begin the cycle of infection all over again.
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About a year after infection, a painful blister forms – 90% of the time on the lower leg – and one or more worms emerge accompanied by a burning sensation. To soothe the burning pain, patients often immerse the infected part of the body in water. The worm(s) then releases thousands of larvae (ba...by worms) into the water. These larvae reach the infective stage after being ingested by tiny crustaceans or copepods, also called water fleas.
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