DWU Health Management Department Newsletter

This is a monthly newsletter for Divine Word University’s Health Management Department staff and students VOLUME 1 ISSUE 6 J U L Y 2 0 1 1

Severe health consequences await those who do not look after their heart

By Dr. Clement Manineng exercise) The bad thing about heart My message to all the read- disease is that if you develop HOD’s Message ers here is that: You must heart disease, it is highly avoid heart disease. unlikely for the situation to WELCOME all readers, In the last issue of the be reversed. In other words, July has been a very good month Health Management News- once you develop heart dis- for us. The students have begun letter, we learnt about the ease it is impossible to earnest studies and have already importance of stress man- achieve a cure and you will been given tests, essays, projects agement. One of the gravest always remain at risk of and research to do before the end of danger of stress is an in- sudden death and paralysis. Fruits are like pawpaw, banana and the semester. After the mid- creased risk of developing So while we are free of heart watermelon are very good for your semester break it will be only a few heart disease. Quite a num- disease, we would like to body and heart. Picture by Davo- more weeks before the students Horne (2009). finish and go home to rest. ber of our hardworking col- keep things that way by In this issue of the HM newsletter, leagues and senior statesmen avoiding the risk factors It is scientifically proven that Dr. Clement Manineng talks about have had sudden deaths and (especially the important risk inhalation of tobacco smoke the importance of taking care of our some are paralyzed for life factors) for heart disease at all has direct link to heart disease heart. He points out some very because of heart disease. times or as best we could. Con- 4. Must regularly engage in useful yet simple tips to avoid None of us here at Divine sidering the important risk fac- physical work and exercise things that become a risk to our word University must take tors for heart disease, here is Engage in physical work health. the slightest risk of develop- just how you can avoid them; regularly (cut grass, do gar- We also have Health Management ing heart disease because we 1. Manage your stress (as students writing about politics, dening etc) HIV/AIDS, Health care workers, are here to make a differ- discussed in the last newslet- Do regular exercise (jogging, hindrances to critical thinking and a ence for . ter) swimming, walking, dancing staff writes about her trip to Bou- We must avoid the risks of Take control of your life (say kayaking etc) gainville. heart disease and live a long no to requests if you have to) There are also some students who and happy life while we You can plan for tomorrow but Your heart has been at work talk about their experiences while pursue our dreams and at the don’t worry over how it will since you were 20 weeks old studying health management. same time contribute to- turn out. Always find some inside your mother’s womb I hope it gives you some idea what wards making a significant time to relax with friends and and it continues its work faith- a full time undergraduate student positive difference for Papua family. faces along the way towards getting fully even now as you read a degree and some of their dreams New Guinea. 2. Watch your diet this and it will be beating for and aspirations. A second year There are several risk factors Cut down or avoid that tasty so many more years to come student also celebrated her birthday for heart disease but the fried chicken and chips or lamb for as long as you do your and invited her classmates and the most important of these risk flaps part. You must look after your staff to join. This small gatherings factors are; Cut down or avoid frying your heart in order for it to continue among staff and students continue Stress and High Blood food all the time beating and allow you to to strengthen the ’DWU spirit’. Pressure Avoid high sugar containing achieve the goals and dreams. There are more stories for you to Know the bad things (risk read so please do take the time to High Cholesterol (fat) and food like sweet biscuits and read them and enjoy sugar levels in the blood cakes or soft drinks factors) that can damage your Go for high fiber garden fruits heart and avoid them as best Smoking (any type of Cheers! and vegetables you can. Sudden death and smoke) Margareth Samei, HOD 3. Do not smoke or avoid in- permanent paralysis awaits Sedentary lifestyle (lack of haling other people’s smoke those who do not look after their heart. P A G E 2 The Forer Effect - A Hindrance to Critical Thinking

By Dwayne Peter and limitations. You pride yourself as being an what we read and ask: “is this too independent thinker and do not general? Why do I have to accept accept others’ opinions without satisfactory Health Managers who oversee a range this? What are the consequences of proof. You have found it unwise to accepting this. of activities and services in the public be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At or private health care in PNG should times you are extroverted, possess a very important trait – be a affable, sociable while at other times you are Remember, the Forer Effect (also critical thinker. introverted, wary and reserved. known as Baunum effect) is the ten- Being critical means one has to never Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unre- dency to accept vague personality accept people and situations at face alistic. descriptions or statements that can be value. Everything that arises and every- Yet when someone reads this statement, applicable to most people as uniquely one that a health manager meet through- they take it upon themselves to say that applicable to one’s self and rating it as out his or her working career will be this is true of them. highly accurate. So be careful, ques- complex and demand more than just Many of these statements appear or are tion what you read and you will be- observation and judgement. pushed towards us through the following: come a person or health manager who There are many things that will cloud a is a critical thinker. person’s ability to think clearly. Exam-  Astrology Readings Dwayne Peter is a first year Health ples include, political censorship, Com-  Fortune Telling Management student munal Reinforcement, Personal Bias and  Tarot Card Readings Prejudices, Pareidolia and many more  Personality Tests hindrances that can affect critical think-  Psychic Readings ing.  Wishful Thinking Today I will touch on one of the hin- drances to critical thinking— the Forer For many people who have become so Effect (also known as Baunum effect). obsessed with doing these activities, as The Forer effect is the tendency to accept mentioned above, believe that the infor- vague personality descriptions or state- mation presented is accurate and they ments that can be applicable to most become dependent on it and it affects the people as uniquely applicable to one’s way you feel, talk or live in in the commu- self and rating it as highly accurate. nity. Many waste money just to acquire The Psychologist Betram R. Forer the services of these so called ‘mind read- (b.1940-d.2000) found out that many ers’ and believe what is being said as people tend to accept generally vague or ‘gospel truth’. overly general personality descriptions Now how can we as health managers or as uniquely applicable to them, without even those who deal with the sick counter realizing that the same statements could this hindrance to thinking critically? be applicable to everyone. For example, My advice: the statement below is general personal- Question it before accepting it. Never ity description and can apply to anyone for once accepting anything you read who reads it: or hear without questioning the logic You have a strong need for other people to like behind it. you and for them to To avoid the Forer effect, we must admire you. You have a tendency to be critical learn to critically evaluate if personal- of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not ity characterizations are truly unique turned to your advantage. While to you, or could apply to anyone. Just you have some personality weaknesses, you are because somebody makes a statement generally able to compensate that is of a general description in na- for them. Disciplined and controlled on the ture that you think it is meant for you. outside, you tend to be worrisome Stop and think first. and insecure inside. At times you have serious We have to be very skeptical when doubts as to whether you have dealing with vague personality de- made the right decision or done the right An example of a Horoscope in the the Post scriptions and statements. This basi- thing. You prefer a certain amount of Courier. It is found next to the cartoon sec- change and variety and become dissatisfied cally means that we have to question tion. when hemmed in by restrictions P A G E 3 Lack of Health Care workers still a hindrance to quality of care

By Wattie Wando health system) factors, like poor remunera- tion and salaries, lack of job satisfaction, Shortage of health workers in rural areas work-associated with risks, lack of further is a major issue in PNG. education and career development. This One of the most enduring characteristics of could also be exogenous (outside the health the rural health landscape is the uneven system) factors, like poor quality of life and distribution and relative shortage of health high crime rate, tribal fighting, housing and care professionals. The shortages of health lack of proper health facilities problems and workers are a major problem for PNG espe- lack of educational opportunities for chil- cially in rural areas where more than 87 dren. percent of the population lives and it has been a growing concern for public health The pull factors for the health professionals experts and the government of the country. in PNG towards the urban centres are usu- This is even more annoying when viewed ally associated with recipient community/ People in many parts of rural PNG have against the background that majority of our areas as the case may be as a result of en- population lives in rural areas and see other dogenous factors such as higher rates of limited opportunity for health care due to health professionals like doctors to com- remuneration, more satisfying work condi- a lack of health care workers. plaint about the increase in their remunera- tions, safer work environment and better come these push, pull and stay factors that lead tion package while concentrating only on the educational and career advancement. Active to the movement of health workers so that handful of population in urban areas. and aggressive recruitment of health work- health professional can be retained in the rural ers in the urban areas have been a steadily health facilities to provide better healthcare In addition, the shortage of health profes- growing influence on migration of health services. One of the recommendations of this sionals in rural areas in PNG is a persistent workers making poor delivery of health care persistent problem is that government has to problem and affects the health of the popula- services in the remote areas. Urban centers make use of its existing policies and standards tion living in the remote parts of the country. that are able to offer a higher quality of life, in order to retain health workers in rural areas The majority of our populations experienc- freedom and access of basic government to ensure that all areas reach minimum stan- ing the health problems are the children and services, other social activities and good dards with regard to numbers of health person- women and its effects in the health status of educational opportunities for both health nel per population. the country are more devastating and they workers and children will naturally be at- are the ones need more of the health care tractive to health personnel from many rural Proper financial and non-financial incentives workers services. However, problems communities in the country to move to the are highly valued for the rural health profes- unique to rural areas, like poor infrastruc- urban centres. sionals in order to provide quality health care tural development, absent or rudimentary services in the country. To improve health healthcare delivery, difficult terrains and Furthermore, stay factors in the urban cen- status of Papua New Guineans, government poor health workers housing and other tan- tres are those factors that prevent health need to improve the working conditions of gible and intangible incentives from the ap- workers from returning to the rural areas health professionals especially in the rural ar- propriate people in the health system or the once they have moved to urban centers. eas so that health professionals can be retain in government combine to make rural areas There is usually a reluctance to disrupt their the rural health facilities to provide quality unattractive to healthcare workers resulting new lifestyle or risk the disruption of their healthcare services. The conditions include: in an overwhelming disparity in health pro- children’ education or break newly formed Improved working and living conditions fessionals/patient ratio in urban areas com- cultural and social bonds. Some of the push  pared to rural areas. factors leading to poor retention of health (accommodations); care workers in rural areas include poor  Training and supervision, These peculiarities make the retention of infrastructure, lack of opportunities (e.g.  Maintain good communication, health care health care workers in the areas difficult. further training, career mobility, good and educational opportunities for themselves Added to this is the interplay of factors like schools for children, and jobs for spouses) and their families. health worker migration, professional/ for themselves, their children and family,  Improve communication technology & infra- specialty inequities, institutional inequities, low salary and lack of support, lower social structure development in rural areas, humanitarian crisis like tribal fights, out- recognition compared to urban areas, and  Improve recognitions, promotion and finan- break of diseases etc. The factors contribut- lack of security and most importantly is the cial incentives packages ing to migration and movement of health continuous shortage of medical supplies and  The government needs to invest not only in workers from the rural areas to the urban equipment. Frequent changes in government its health workers but in its facilities, by en- centres are classified into four main groups and thus, leadership also lead to a cascade of suring regular medical supplies, upgrading and it include push factors, pull factors, stick staff changes in the rural health workers. facilities in rural areas depending on service factors and stay Factors. Push factors of ru- needs of the people to provide better health ral health workers towards the urban cen- In order for the PNG government to mini- services. tres or cities have to do with the environ- mize this persistent health problem and to ment and conditions in the rural areas that retain health professionals in the rural areas Mr. Wattie Wando is 4th year Health Man- contribute to the health workers’ decision to to ensure effective delivery of health ser- agement student. leave. This could be endogenous (within the vices, the government has to somehow over- P A G E 4 HIV/AIDS, Ethics and the PNG Way

By Bothilda Towara And also, parents and local community members will be disgraced be- cause the children were at the gathering also and have heard bad things or In Papua New Guinea people may argue that we need to talk adult stuffs they aren’t suppose to hear. openly and talk straight when dealing with HIV and AIDS in Campbell (2003) says that when HIV& AIDS awareness are been con- Papua New Guinea but we also have to consider PNG is not a ducted at the villages where people come from various age groups, values western country like Australia or America where issues about and beliefs, it is advisable that mention of words related to reproductive reproductive health are discussed openly and accepted by every health are used courteously and explained well in a way that does not citizen. create ill feelings as the texts may have contradictions with their cultural Today, the health ministry and its authorities advocate on the use of status quo. He stated further to stress out that when conducting aware- languages that is understood by the majority of the people. This is so ness, health workers have to be selective with their audiences and use that the awareness messages can be clearly understood and their languages that are appropriate for that particular audience to whom they emphasis on using Pidgin dialect to explain this English concepts has are interacting with. gained momentum in this country(Cameron 2010). Ethics and Practice of Health Workers Health workers in PNG use “tok pidgin” to explain concepts relating There is a great concern about the way health professionals’ act or con- to the disease so that it can be clearly understood by the majority duct in front of HIV and AIDS clients. Some health workers are generally who neither understand nor speak English. When health workers good in that they adhere to their professional ethics, but some are not. use pidgin it is frank that a lot of sensitive words are uttered and This indirectly has negative impacts on the visiting clients and it is consid- does cause uneasiness amongst the clients or the intended audience. ered discrimination. There has to be respect for autonomy, least harm and An example of such scenario will be like using this pidgin word beneficence on the patient’s behalf. “koap” (sex) which may not go down well with elderly or illiterate Take for instance, a health worker may talk harshly at a visiting client or clients because mention of such sensitive words is considered taboo behave in such a way that may make the patient uncomfortable. The and not used publicly in our society. health worker may not explain some medical terms or concepts properly Instead of saying koap or sex the phrase (“man na meri slip wan- to the client. These are true for those victims taking Anti-retroviral (ARV) taim”-man and woman sleeping together) can be used as it is less medications and attending counseling or coming for checkups on their HIV discriminative and is acceptable to the public. Indirectly sleeping & AIDS status upon diagnosis. together by men and women is having sex so it is less discriminative Some of the words or languages used by the health service providers may than the word “koap”. have negative connotations which the client may not know or understand Texts relating to HIV & AIDs are very sensitive, at times many of in person (Cameron 2010). This is intimidation of human rights and them are deemed as swearing words and are unacceptable to the should not be permitted. Clients will be offended by such behaviors. people because health workers or HIV & AIDS awareness volunteers According to Dodoma 2001 , it argued that some health workers bleach do not properly coordinate how such words should be used and to their professional ethics by using languages or concepts that are never whom. Take for example, if HIV&AIDS awareness is going to be held understood by the visiting clients and the health workers just do not con- at a community hall in a village then there needs to be proper selec- sider this as having negative implications on their professional conducts. tion of words to be used at that hour and location. This is because It is breach of ethics in these health workers professions. the audience attending the program will range from adults to small Dodoma (2001) also stated that in Tanzania, the National Government children ranging from different educational levels with different strives to ensure that health workers attached with AIDS clients are very beliefs and values. selective with the type of languages and words used when addressing Assuming that the health worker was talking about modes of trans- clients at their dispose or when carrying out awareness on HIV & AIDs in mission and elaborates one mode as through unprotected anal sex, public. To achieve this objective the authorities have incorporated with the audience will feel uncomfortable with this talk because anal sex policy makers and have put in place some policies to safeguard health in reality is practiced but is considered a deviant sexual act in PNG workers practice leaving less room for discrimination from health custodi- communities. So knowing unprotected anal sex can transmit HIV, ans. people will conclude that truly HIV victims deserve infection be- Therefore, it is obvious that people are more concerned with combating cause of their animal like sexual acts. the spread of HIV & AIDs that they do not consider the implications of discrimination that accompany the usage of medical texts in a Melanesian society like PNG where use of words associated with sexual health is con- sidered taboo. So if only health workers and health authorities would con- sider using ethics to safeguard medical terminologies associated with HIV & AIDS then discrimination and stigma that comes in this form will be reduced.

Ms. Bothilda Towara is 2nd Year Health Management Student.

References Cameron, S. 2010. Report of the Commission on AIDS in the Pacific: Turning the Tide, Vo.8:2-123, retrieved on the 20th May 2011 Retrieved from http://www.baha.com.pg. Campbell,C. 2003.African Issue ‘Letting Them Die’ Why HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs Fail,, Indiana University Press, USA. Dodoma 2001.National Policy on HIV and AIDS, pg.19, , Prime Minister’s Health Management students explain HM concepts to a Office Printery, The United Republic of Tanzania. parent during the DWU Open day this year. P A G E 5 Kongop: PNG is definitely the land of the unexpected

By Benjamin Kongop crisis in the Administration (Public Service) gate affairs, the NPF and Finance en- and Provincial Government of the day. quires like the SOE in Southern High- As you may be aware, PNG is nick- lands were not made public. So was named “the land of the unexpected”. Now had there been corrupt deals or steal- the public money worth spending? Do you believe that? I think PNG is truly ing from public purse, or crisis in the prov- Do we have answers from the a “land of the unexpected”. That is be- ince, no one has ever been brought to justice inquires? Has anybody been charged? cause many things of public concern or jailed to date. The public at large is not This week we have Peter O’Neil ele- have happened here to that effect. aware of the reasons of the SOE or has it vated to power by surprise as his PNG Politics has erupted again. This achieved its goals. The report was never party predecessor . Let’s couple of days have been colourful to made public to date. leave the legality of this and the other say the least, but have they shown us a matters above to the Judiciary. better view of politics in this country or The PM, Sir Michael appointed Sam Abal as are these politicians taking us fo r a ride a/PM three months ago before he went to The public sector reform, health sec- again? Singapore for medical or surgical treatment. tor reform, education reform and the What follows below are a few examples, Ideally it should have been one of the different acts of parliament all have but don’t take me wrong of why PNG four regional NA been enacted to bring tangible bene- continues to be labeled the land of the party fits or public goods and ser- unexpected. vice to the rural majority but the impacts have not been felt The camping, lobbying or seen. and horse trading after the We have not achieved the over- 1997 national election indi- all aims of these well intended cated that Sir Michael legal documents. Somare was going to be With such a scenario, you, the elected PM when parliament readers of this article, (especially met. But unexpectedly the late if you are in your final year), be- William Bill Skate came to ware that people may expect the power as PNG’s CEO only to least from you. You may be re- resign after 18 months in garded as another graduate, but you office. can do something unexpected for the common good. After Bill Skate resigned, It takes one person to bring about the golden ball was in the changes. Adolf Hitler nearly took over court of of the whole world. Kompiam Ambum electorate So if you happen to be employed in in . Many one of those government agencies around the country threw and departments where unex- their support behind JP say- pected things have happened and ing he was a God fearing continue to be, my advice to you man and was going to lead is, do not follow the crowd. the nation with honesty, To Rather, have confidence and everyone’s surprise the trust yourself and put into practice man tipped to be the next what you have learnt in Christian or

PM nominated Sir who professional ethics and other subjects The election of the PM continues became the fifth PM in 1999. here at DWU to do your best for the to make significant headlines both in good of this great country. PNG and overseas The constitutions states that state of Do what you know to be right with- emergency (SOE) in PNG can be de- out fear or favour. clared in the event of a natural disas- leaders or one of the party leaders of the And I wish you all of God’s best in ter like volcanic eruption or tsunami coalition partners in the Somare Polye gov- your final walk here in DWU. and where there is a civil war. But the ernment. government of the day under the aus- Benjamin Kongop is a 4th year pices of Sir Michael declared an SOE in The government sanctioned and funded Health Management student the Southern Highlands in 2006 citing commission of enquiries (COE) of the Moti- P A G E 6 Bougainville OICs complete third phase of RHFM Training

By Lucy Au equipment  Manage the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Health Centers in the rural health Autonomous Region of Bougainville have complete a facility one week training under the Rural Health Facility budget Management Training course.  Manage the They Successfully completed the third workshop for planning Rural Health facility Management training conducted process for in Autonomous Republic of Bougainville Island. the rural Rural Health Facility Management Training is a train- health facility ing program developed by the National Department of Health in collaboration with AUSAID through the office Since there was no of Capacity Building Service Center (CBSC). other training institu- The participants discuss on issues in the work- The training module was targeted to train officer in- tions prepared to de- place during the workshop chargers (OIC), Sister in-charges (SIC) and District liver that training pack- Health Managers (DHM) working in rural health set- ages to rural health facility managers in the 20 province, DWU has tings. signed the MOU with National Department of Health and CSBC to fa- Over 95% of OICs did not acquire knowledge and skills cilitate the training through the Faculty of Health Sciences. of managing a health facility during basic training be- The program was actually started last year,2010, and was completed cause the management component of a facility was not in July this year. There were a total of three workshops conducted included in the curriculum. The basic training was throughout the six months period to train the OICs. more focused on clinical management of patients at It is a privilege for Bougainvilleans who took this training and 16 out rural settings. Most OICs become managers of a facility of 20 participants have successfully completed the course last month. without proper mentoring from previous senior offi- Participants come as far as Buin, Siwai, Kieta, Tinputz, Bana Nissan, cers or some kind of experiences. Consequently, most Wakunai, and Buka districts. of them do not know how to manage a health facility Below are participants’ testimonials on the impacts of training in properly as supposed to be. their respective health settings. This has prompted a training package specifically de- signed to train those officials to equip them with added “I was able to conduct series of meetings to discuss the HR issues knowledge and skills to run a facility. and the knowledge gained from consulting GO and other vital The training package has five main competencies, key documents was very useful to conduct effective meetings which are; with reference to the documents. I have also gained skills to  Manage the rural health facility develop a monitoring system to control drug usage and inven-  Manage the rural health facility team tory and also develop community Health Bullet Board where I  Manage the rural health facility stores and was able to share priority health programs with the commu- nity. I have also drawn up daily work schedule in delivering Health Centre activities and now in the process of develop pol- icy to be accountable for the Health Centre user fees” OIC of Mohoitu Health Sub Centre in Siwai District:

“The most important change is that I’m delegating responsibilities and duties to all staff Encourage staff and trying to transfer the knowledge gained from the workshop with them especially the component of Financial Records and Expenses, Medical supplies and drug manage- ment” OIC of Manetai Health Centre in Kieta District

The Bougainville participants with the facilitator, Ms. Lucy Au is a lecturer in the DWU Health Management Ms. Au after the close of the workshop Department and a trainer of the RHFMT course. The second year Health Management students took time out from classes to celebrate of f their

HM2 students celebrate Jessica’s birthday classmate’s birthday. Ms. Jessica Wape turned 21 in July and invited her classmates and HM department’ academic staff to celebrate the milestone. The HOD, Ms. Margareth Samei, said that age of 21 marked a brighter future for many people and wished Jessica many happy successes in life. She also took time to encourage the rest of Jes- sica’s classmate to study hard and work well this semester.

Learning Health Management - a student’s perspective

Name: Nengope Sivio, Year 3 I have been here for three years now learning health management. I have learnt many interesting things but one of the most important things I have learnt is HM303 Research Methods. This course has helped me understand how to conduct research on various health issues . For example I learnt processes like retrieving data through providing questionnaires, analysis of data, transformation of data into information and finally producing a re- search report. This unit was important for me as in the future I intend to join a research organization and study diseases outbreaks such as those found in PNG like Cholera and Typhoid. I would to thank my lecturer Ms. Lucy Au for imparting research knowledge and giving me confidence to take lead of research activities.

Name: Andrew Gynigah Tabel, Year 4 I knew very little of this course when I was in secondary school but when DWU staff went to my school to market DWU, my interest of Health and Business Management grew. Since coming here, I have found out that this course, which a combination of this two areas, has developed and shaped me to be a critical thinker and to makes decisions based on sound principles of health management. This principles were learnt in courses such as Critical Thinking, Resource Management. Professional Ethics, Human Resource Management, Database Management and Project Planning and Design. After taking many of these courses, my views about the current PNG Health Care system has changed from being viewed as patients, doctors and nurses to some- thing that is intricate, meaningful, and important to every Papua New Guineans’ wellbeing. Name: Noilline Hombiha Year 1 Initially I wanted to be a HEO but after seeing sick and dying patients at Boram Hospital, I changed my mind as I knew I couldn't handle them well. When I saw the application from DWU, I immediately put my name down for HM. Now that Iam here, I have learnt so many things about our health system in PNG. So when I go back to my village in East Sepik, I can confidently talk to my people about how the health system in PNG works and to im- prove the health services provided in my district. One of the most interesting units that I took last semester, HM 101 Health Care System has helped me understand how health care services are provided to people in rural ar- eas. I would recommend that anyone who is reading this that you should take HM as it is a very good course.

Name: Christine Ava Year 2 Im in year two now. Last year we learnt about the basics of the health care system and it was very interesting because even though I knew that PNG was categorized as developing nation, that ranking was not based on our natural resources but based more on health rates such as high infant mortality rate, high maternal mor- tality rates and other poor health indicators that place PNG to be in this category as a least developing nation. As a future health manager, I would like to contribute to strengthening the Health service delivery mechanism in PNG using the skills and acquired knowledge gain throughout my studies in Health Management. Apart from all the many good units that I have taken, HM102 Critical Thinking was where I learnt how to critique research write-ups, critique presenters and sustain arguments. I encourage future students to take up the HM course as it is a good course that will help you in the future as well as help other Papua New Guineans. Involvement of young people crucial to fight against HIV/AIDS in PNG

The question that I would like to ask is,”How can we going to By Nengope Sivio manage ourselves to over come the infection of HIV virus?” I

think that the most important strategy that we can use is preva- The National Youth Debate on HIV/ AIDS was held in lence of honesty in our personal lives. The term honesty refers DWU in 2010 and again this year in UNITECH with to the perception of personal reliable and decision making the prime purpose of including mostly the youths in process of each phase of act you undertake in your personal the fight against HIV/ AIDS. life. If honesty is prevalent in your life, you will obviously come This is because the Government has seen that youths to realize that your life is on the safe side, and you will be able as the population who are most at risk of getting in- to make most decisions that quiet good for your health. fected with HIV virus. Through honesty you can up hold the ABC measure of preven- Students from each university throughout the country tion as promoted by the National AIDS Council. came to give their ideas and points about issues relat- And unfortunately there is no cure in it, all we have to do is to ing to HIV/AIDS. For example, one of the points raised manage ourselves. Of course, to manage ourselves is easy be- and debated on was how “social issues are related cause it is a matter of decision we make in daily lives. The closely to how HIV is passed on from one person to an- power of making decision is basing on individual wishes be- other”. The team that supported that idea said that such cause no one will force you. All you have social issues like consumption of to do is to take the application part of alcohol and smoking of drugs, and critical thinking process. attending recreational sites like The other strategy should implement to dances give a huge access to the spreading HIV virus from those curtail the spreading of HIV virus infec- who have had the virus to others tion is to involve youths in any HIV/ who do not have. Therefore the AIDS oriented activities. This will enable affirmative team supported all vari- them to share their views with others, able social issues as viable points they will feel free to talk more on sex, for the spread of HIV/AIDS. and they should able to find the solution Bearing in mind that HIV passes for themselves. In fact the youths are from one person to the next during sexual contact; single needle for most vulnerable for HIV infection, but tattooing, mother to child, using of they can take responsibility to manage to single injection by the health staffs to Young people everywhere in PNG need to contain the spreading, that is if only they give treatment to the patients and collectively work together to reduce HIV/ have given the authority of taking lead in blood transfusion. Since the first de- AIDS in our communities. some of the activities that are relate to tection of HIV virus was identified in HIV /AIDS program. Therefore the people who are in charge of 1987, there were only six people who were reported at POM General Hospital with positive status in HIV virus. HIV AIDS committees must give change for the youths from From 1987 to 2010, cumulative total of HIV infection various backgrounds to take lead, and also include them in de- has been increased up to 30,402. The pace that which cision making at national level for advocacy. Every decision HIV is spreading is becoming uncontrollable for health should be based upon collective ideas would be effective and workers and anybody else to stop it. In addition to that, should reflect in some trends of changing attitude of the people it was assumed that similar number of people who are gradually. And the youths should be seen also as eligible ones infected with the virus did not report themselves. It has for making decision to protect lives from this deadly disease – been predicted that by 2020 almost the one million of country’s population will be affected and suffered from HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS. Mr. Nengope Sivio is a 3rd year Health Management Student

Note from the Editor Caption describing picture or If you have any ideas, issues or comments concerninggraphic. the e-newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact the editor, Mr. Kingston Namun at the Health Sciences Tower, DWU campus in Madang town. We welcome any suggestions to improve news quality, distribution or content of our newsletter. Here are our contact details: Email: [email protected] Ph: 424 1887. See you all in the next issue. This newsletter is endorsed by the Head Of Department for Health Management and the Dean of the Faculty of Health Science before its publication.