Contents of Extradition Treaty must be published

In light of the Extradition Treaty signed between the Government of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, there has never been on record any citizen of this country living in Indonesia that would warrant such action taken by both governments.

UNHCR confirms over 9,000 West Papuan Refugees living in Papua New Guinea make up our demography; where a good number of them are wanted by the Indonesian government.
It is very clear that the signed Extradition Treaty was initiated by the Indonesian government to extradite those wanted by their own government. We must defend and protect our stock with reference to six (6) Melanesian societies that are part of the global community.
They are; PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and West Papua. The signing of the extradition treaty will in no way protect our Melanesian brothers and sisters who deserve nothing less than their own political freedom.

 The constant torture and killings of West Papuans by Indonesian soldiers across the border is very sensitive and an ongoing issue that cannot continue to be ignored whilst they continue to seek refuge in our country.

 The Prime Minister is reminded that it is the job of the Opposition, not only to take the government to task on matters of National Importance after the event, but to even speculate and take pre-emptive action. This is based on the principle that prevention is better than cure. It goes without saying, that any person or a group of persons, who assume any leadership role on behalf of our people, must accept public scrutiny in both their public and private lives.
The demography of Papua New Guinea is also made up by the West Papuan Community, who are part of us, and therefore it would only seem fair if the extradition treaty was pursued with their participation.

 Public knowledge has it that Djoko Tjandra is a citizen of this country, confirmed by O’Neill in the media last week, and that as a citizen of this country he was not subject to the extradition treaty, raising more suspicion who the extradition treaty was aimed at.
There are thousands of West Papuans living in PNG that do not have citizenship status, making them eligible for extradition if requested by the Indonesian government.
Peter O’Neill must publish the contents of the Extradition Treaty that was signed in Indonesia for public consumption and dispel all misconceptions or be seen as an indecisive leader as history portrays.

 We must always standby our principles even if we end up standing alone because political leadership in this country is not about the former MPs who defected to join the government, it is about 7.5 million citizens in this country, who deserve a government who will fight and defend them at all costs.

Adapted from http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20130626/news05.htm

East Sepik Provincial Administrator focuses on recruiting young workforce

The East Sepik Students’ Association of Divine Word University was privileged to meet with Provincial Administrator for East Sepik, Mr. Richard Kombo, on Saturday, 6^th July. Mr. Kombo was accompanied by Ms Roselyn from the Department of Personnel Management for Public Services. During the meeting a lot of interesting things concerning the province was said.

Mr. Kombo when speaking to the students, he said he is currently working on recruiting new and energetic students of ESP to return to the province and help build it. He is planning on laying off the old people who are holding public offices and need new graduates to fill in these offices

President of ESSA also hand delivered him two letters on the interests of the East Sepik students for financial assistance in paying of outstanding tuition fees, staging of the cultural show and Commissioning Ceremony for the final year students. A copy of each letter is addressed to the Governor of East Sepik Province, Hon. Mr. Michael Somare.

In response to questions raised by students concerning research, housing and communication network between the students and the provincial government, he said, he is in the preparation phase of building new houses to provide accommodation for the new recruits. Furthermore, his office is ready to fund any research in the fields of education, health, economy and agriculture. Before he finished, he is working on an internet website for the provincial government and was pleased to hear that the students are willing to help him build one. This would enable effective communication between the people of ESP and the provincial government

The meeting with Mr. Kombo to discuss such issues of paramount importance for the province was first of its kind and students are willing to work closely with the provincial government of ESP.

Health Vision 2050-Directions for the next forty years

I would like to bring to light some factors which I believe would be of obstacle when transforming the current level of health facilities to fulfil the promise of Health Vision 2050.

Firstly, I would like to thank the brains behind the documentation of the NHP 2011-2020. Surely preparation of such a document requires great planning, much resources, and high determination. No doubt, you people have a heart for the health and well-being of the people of PNG. I commend you for that.

Health Vision 2050 is a forty-year strategy that will transform the current health service delivery system in Papua New Guinea, and links to the National Government’s Papua New Guinea Vision 2050 and the PNG Development Strategic Plan 2010-2030. It includes the progressive introduction of community health posts, district hospitals, regional specialist hospitals, and national referral hospitals (Pacific Medical Centre)

What interests me the most is how they are planning to merge Health Sub-Centres and Aid Posts into Community Health Posts, introduction of Regional Specialist Hospitals and National Referral Hospitals or Pacific Medical Centre. They should consider the potential impacts such transformation would have on the current system and the personnel already working. Following is the diagram of the proposed reform.



Transformation of the current health service system to future scenario. source: NHP 2011-2020 Vol.1

 

The foreseeable impacts would mostly be a disaster in the lives of the health personnel as well as the system itself. Transforming the current health system would mean changes in health policies, administration structure, health legislations, Human Resource Management, Financial Management, Logistics Management, Assets Management, Office Accommodation and Health Information Management System

When that happens, health professionals and ancillary staffs are going to be faced with problems in job Security, employment, qualifications, salaries, job distribution and equality  and job Satisfaction and work performance

Furthermore, creating Regional Specialist Hospitals and Pacific Medical Centre may seem as duplication of services and waste of limited vital resources such as funds, human resources, materials and equipments for the purpose of achieving Health Vision 2050. Where are we going to get money to build these health facilities? Or for the case of human resources, how many doctors, nurses, midwives, and specialists health care workers do we have? What is the ratio of doctors, nurses and midwives per population? What is the current rate at which PNG students are selected to study health in the universities and colleges and will these institutions be able to cater for all of them? Or are we planning to recruit outsiders to come and work in these health facilities?  These are some critical questions to be asked if we want to transform the current health system. In addition, and I do not want to mention it time and again, how can regional specialist hospitals and Pacific Medical Centre be of service to the rural majority in terms of accessibility and affordability? What is the current government’s spending per capita in health?

 We should follow examples of countries where doctors and nurses live and work in the community they serve. Not to mention the problem that doctors and nurses dislike working in rural areas where majority of people live, maybe because best of life is not found in rural areas. So how can we change that? One practical example is the health care system of Cuba. Though it is a small economy like PNG, it has one of the best health care system and best health indicators as compared to developed nations like USA. The secret is, health care professionals like doctors and nurses live in neighbourhood where majority of people live and they know their patients very well. Cuban government invests in building and providing health facilities and services which attracts and is conducive for health professionals to work in those areas. They bring the services to the people and not the people seeking health services.

Recommendation

So why not bring the health services to where the people are and renovating or scaling up services provided by the current health care facilities. I think this would avoid spending resources in establishing extra new health facilities and duplication of services. So it would be nice if we could follow that example of Cuba.  

 

Western diets and Lifestyle Diseases of Civilisation

Lifestyle diseases or Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDs for short, are unhealthy conditions attributed to shifts in the way people live their lives, often due to advancements in the society. One primary cause of NCDs is consumption of unhealthy diets such as fast foods or junk foods. These diseases are emerging with greater frequency and are a greater concern in developing countries. Examples of these diseases and conditions include cancer, heart diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity. It is argued that individuals who are physically inactive, smoke, drink alcohol and rely on fast, ever ready foods have a greater chance of contracting these diseases (Christensen, 2013).

Fast food (or junk food) is the name given to food that can be prepared and served quickly, often served at basic restaurants or in packaged form for convenient takeaway/takeout. It is typically inexpensive to buy but unhealthy to eat. Fast food is often highly processed and produced on a large scale to decrease costs. Ingredients and various menu items are typically prepared at a different location before being sent to restaurants to be cooked, reheated or quickly put together for the customer’s convenience (Fast Foods Facts, 2013). These foods generally contribute lots of calories but little nutritional value to the body (Magee, 2013).

Fast foods are available almost everywhere we go. We often see much of them in supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, and along roadsides. Interestingly, they are also found in mainstream media publications-Television, radio and newspapers.  Examples of these fast foods include coke, chips and chicken, fries, hot dogs, meat pies, Big Roosters, breakfast cereals and Kentucky Fried Chicken (Fast Foods Facts, 2013). Popular snack foods are usually commercially prepared and packaged, like chips, cheese puffs, candy bars, snack cakes, and cookies (Magee, 2013).

The problems with junk foods are that they are low in satiation value - that is, people don't tend to feel as full when they eat them - which can lead to overeating and junk food tends to replace other, more nutritious foods.

Globally, deaths from NCDs amounted to 57 million in 2008, 36 million, or 63%, were due to NCDs, principally cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases. As the impact of NCDs increases, and as population age, annual NCD deaths are projected to continue to rise worldwide, and the greatest increase is expected to be seen in low- and middle-income regions (Global Status Report on Non Communicable Diseases, 2012).

Due to increased awareness of public health and obesity levels, efforts have been made by developed nations to improve fast food menus by lowering fat levels or at least offering healthier alternatives. Some developed countries like Russia, USA and Australia ban fast food outlets near schools (Wale’s top doctor proposes fast food ban near schools, 2013). However, in PNG, the bill to ban sales of fast foods is strongly opposed by the majority of the people. For example lamb flaps. In his own words, Mr Maxton-Graham said that lamb flaps contain almost 90 per cent of fat but very small portion of protein. It does not help the body but destroys it. It is an unhealthy and disgusting food with so much fat in it which does not help the body at all. However, the public claimed that sales of fast foods such as lamb flaps contribute in a big way to their families’ income (Kelola, 2009). 

Traditionally, Papua New Guinea’s disease profile was dominated by communicable or infectious diseases alone. However, due to transition of economy and increase in urbanisation, it is likely that PNG would face a double burden health crisis. That is, persistence of communicable diseases and growing burden from lifestyle diseases.

Currently, as mentioned in the NHP 2011-2020, Vol1, Policies and Strategies, p.12, admission cases from these NCDs were low in frequency. As a result, there were not much planning and consideration given to NCDs. However, the plan goes on and said that mortality and morbidity from these NCDs were expected to be prevalent in the next decade. Surprisingly, PNG is already being hit by NCDs sooner than we expected.

Lifestyle diseases such as diabetes 2, obesity, high blood pressure and ailments of the heart are expected to be prevalent in Papua New Guinea in the next decade due to high penetration of energy-rich Western foods and markets, excessive consumption of Western foods and urbanisation (National Health Plan, 2011-2020).

The National Research Institute warns these lifestyle diseases are fast becoming major causes of death for many Papua New Guineans (Vincent, 2013). These diseases are robbing the country of many of its productive workers between the ages of 35 and 50. For a fledgling economy such as PNG, that cannot be good news because it means more and more of our brightest and best talents are succumbing to preventable diseases and, thus, leaving voids in experience and quality in the nation’s educated and skilled workforce (Lifestyle Diseases a killer in Papua New Guinea, 2013).

Up to date there is little done to address this issue and many of these people know little about these diseases, as mentioned by Dr. Amana (Vincent, 2013b). There are not much awareness and advocating done to address this issue. Lifestyle diseases are here to stay and would affect peoples’ lives. A 2008 country report on NCDs revealed that 57 900 people (PNG) die from NCDs alone. These give raise to serious questions like;

—  Are Papua New Guineans aware that whatever they take into their bodies have impacts on their health?

—  Why eating fast foods?

—  Is there enough awareness done on investing in proper eating habits?

—  Are there any control measures in place to regulate import and sale of fast foods?

—  Are the fast food retailers following PNG food safety measures before selling fast foods?

So what now?

How to protect the food choices of the people is a big Question with capital letter Q. If we go back and take a closer look at the National Health Plan 2011-2020, Volume 1, Policies and Strategies, we would find that NCDs were not mentioned as a Key Result Area (KRA) of their own. This is a dilemma here because how can resources be mobilised and plan to curd this new trend of diseases if they are not being taken seriously as a treat to healthy lifestyle. It should have been made a KRA so that we are prepared in advance. So instead of having eight KRAs, we will have nine KRAs. The ninth one will be “Reducing the burden of Non Communicable Diseases and should have the following objectives;

·         Effective Surveillance and Monitoring of NCDs

·         Ensuring retailers of fast foods comply with PNG food safety standards

·         Regular food inspection by food safety officers, environmental health officers or similar professionals

·         Scale up prevention and treatment of NCD cases

·         Ensuring effective legislations on import and sale of fast foods

Recommendation

Making “Reducing the burden of NCDs” a KRA would help transform the island of PNG into a healthy, middle-income earning country.

 

 

References

Christensen, E., T (2013). What are lifestyle diseases? Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-lifestyle-diseases.htm

Fast Foods Facts, (2013). Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/food/fastfood.html

Magee ,E. (2013). Junk food facts. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/junk-food-facts

World Health Organisation (2012). Global Status Report on Non Communicable Diseases. Retrieved June 12, 2013 from http://www.who.com/global+status+report+on+non+communicable+diseases/pdf

Wale’s top doctor proposes fast food ban near schools, (2013). Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-21121829

Kelola, T( 2009). Majority oppose bid to ban lamb flaps. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20110413/news09.htm

Government of Papua New Guinea, (2010) National Health Plan, 2011-2020 Vol1., Policies and Strategies. Port Moresby: Government Printing.

Vincent, S. (2013).Lifestyle Diseases rapidly increasing in PNG. Retrieved June 10, 2013, from http://www.emtv.com.pg/news-app/item/lifestyle-diseases-rapidly-increasing-in-png