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Papua New Guinea battling to contain cholera, influenza, diarrhoea outbreaks
IRIN News - September 17, 2009
Bangkok – Health authorities and aid workers are racing to contain outbreaks of cholera, influenza and diarrhoea in three provinces in Papua New Guinea which have killed over 100 people and infected over 6,000, officials say.
Victor Golpak, coordinator for the national Department of Health, said workers were still trying to stop the spread of the unrelated outbreaks, especially cholera, which was detected for the first time in the country in July.
"People are now aware that cholera is a basic hygiene problem and we can all contain it if we wash our hands," Golpak told IRIN from Lae, the capital of northern Morobe Province.
"That's our big drive. We want to get the message across because this is a new disease in Papua New Guinea, and people don't understand it," he said.
Golpak said the authorities still did not know the origin of the cholera outbreak, first reported in two coastal villages in Morobe Province. They suspect the highly contagious disease was brought in by Southeast Asian workers at a logging operation in the area, or aboard a fishing vessel, he said.
"Once we identify the DNA of the organism, we can tell where it came from, but most likely it came from Southeast Asia," he said. "We will investigate later, after we contain the problem."
Cholera, seasonal influenza and bloody diarrhoea caused by shigella bacteria have all been detected in Morobe as well as the neighbouring Eastern Highlands Province. The Gulf Province, to Morobe's south, has recorded cases of influenza and diarrhoea.
The cholera has spread to Lae, and Golpak said the fear was that it would be transmitted further by people travelling out of the city on the Highlands Highway, the main road connecting the coast to the country's heavily-populated Highlands Region.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which is providing technical support to the government, has so far recorded 20 cholera deaths from 277 suspected cases, 40 bloody diarrhoea-related deaths from 1,155 suspected cases, and 60 deaths from over 4,700 suspected influenza cases.
The cases are all classified as suspected, since confirmation is difficult, said Cathy Williams, a WHO communications officer in Lae, citing challenges in gathering data from remote areas and poor reporting of cases.
Containment efforts
Poor health facilities in remote areas, as well as a lack of clean water and basic sanitation are major challenges in containing the diseases, according to aid workers and officials.
Golpak said cholera usually peaked and declined in about three months, but it was important to continue containment efforts.
"Our efforts involve awareness campaigns on basic hygiene and... to assist communities to get proper water and sanitation. So that's what we have been doing in the last few weeks."
Peter Raynes, country director for CARE International in Papua New Guinea, said the remoteness of areas in the mountainous, jungle-covered country meant weaker health services, since getting supplies to locations and persuading health workers to remain there was difficult.
"The other issue is that there isn't a good electricity supply and transport is very expensive and difficult. So in remote areas, health services tend to be weak. There's not enough personnel, equipment and medication," Raynes said.
CARE is working with the authorities in Eastern Highlands Province, and will be sending teams next week to remote communities in areas close to the Morobe border to help improve water and sanitation, he said.
"Safe water supplies are very limited generally in Papua New Guinea, both in rural areas and also in settlements around the major towns. Also sanitation is quite weak as well... so the conditions are there to allow the spread of disease," he said. (ey/cb)
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