The National Quarantine and Inspection Authority (NAQIA) is developing a database to capture and store all types of diseases in the country.
Managing Director, Joel Alu, told Loop PNG recently that all diseases affecting the flora and fauna of the country and the potential effects on the human population will be recorded.
Alu said this during an announcement by government to quarantine and carry out a delimiting survey on the Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) pest.
“We are developing a database to be able to capture and collect all the diseases that we have in this country, for plant and animal diseases. Because now you will find that for all the animal diseases, we have been collecting data and doing surveys and all that but its not kept properly. Through our data system that we are trying to establish, we’ll be able to detect the inbound and outward cargo, goods and human beings,” Alu said.
He added the database development is part of NAQIA’s modernization program to improve its capacity to better prevent the entry and exit of diseases into the country.