Healthy living on the "Islands of Love".
The rugged terrain and poor roads and communications predispose tribes to develop independently, sometimes oblivious of each other, and the health system in Papua New Guinea is organised on a provincial basis.
Abstract
Papua New Guinea has a population of three million people, and over 700 different languages are spoken; the rugged terrain and poor roads and communications predispose tribes to develop independently, sometimes oblivious of each other. I travelled there by air, boat, and foot through Milne Bay Province, from the cold mountain village of Gadovisu to the beautiful tropical island of Kiriwina. The health system in Papua New Guinea is graded from aid post in the smallest community (more than 60 people) to hospital in the largest (20 000 people for one doctor in attendance) and is organised on a provincial basis. I worked in Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province (named after Alexander Milne, Lord of the Admiralty in 1873, when it was first discovered), in the only hospital, staffed bv two Canadian and four Papua New Guinean doctors. There are several health centres throughout the province, run by health extension officers who have taken a four year course in medicine but no surgery; there are also subhealth centres, run by nurses, and aid posts, where basic drugs such as aspirin, gentian violet, and chloroquine are available.