PNG working to eliminate malaria

In its quest to eliminate malaria in Papua New Guinea, the National Department of Health (NDoH) hosted a one-week workshop in Port Moresby to address the issue.

As part of the NDoH commitment under the National Malaria Control Program, the workshop promoted discussion about the path toward malaria control and eventual elimination.

Academics from across the globe met and conducted the country’s first Elimination Scenario Planning (ESP) workshop for malaria which ended on Wednesday.

Assistant health secretary Dr Paisan Dakulala thanked all participants at the end of the workshop for sharing their ideas and experiences.

Dr Dakulala said malaria is still a major health challenge for PNG and there’s still a great need to control and eliminate the disease.

He said NDoH needs to focus its control program on the outer islands and introduce community mobilization to help control malaria.

International delegates including representatives from the Imperial College London and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) provided key technical support to the workshop.

The workshop familiarized participants with the concepts and tools for ESP and its application to inform national malaria program planning.

It imparted informative insights into how and where ESP may be usefully applied to assist PNG in our strategic planning processes for malaria control.

The workshop was supported by Population Services International PNG, PNG Institute for Malaria Research, the World Health Organization, Rotarians Against Malaria, and major health sector donors including the Global Fund.

Author: 
Quintina Naime