Sorcery and witchcraft beliefs on the front line of public health response in Papua New Guinea and beyond.

Problem: Many communities refer to sorcery or witchcraft to explain misfortunes such as sickness, death and disability. The effects of these beliefs on public health service delivery have long been overlooked. Beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft are significant challenges for health-care workers to understand to deliver better health outcomes and avoid inadvertently triggering accusations of witchcraft that may lead to violence.

Barriers to the uptake of eye care services: A cross-sectional survey from rural and urban communities.

Purpose: To explore the barriers to the uptake of eye care services in urban and rural communities in Papua New Guinea.

Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional descriptive study and involved multi-stage sampling. Communities were randomly selected from each of the three clusters of Madang District for free eye care outreaches from June to September 2022.

Strategies to address inequity of uncorrected refractive error in the Western Pacific: A modified Delphi process.

Purpose: Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of vision impairment globally; however, little attention has been given to equity and access to services. This study aimed to identify and prioritise: (1) strategies to address inequity of access to refractive error services and (2) population groups to target with these strategies in five sub-regions within the Western Pacific.

Methods: We invited eye care professionals to complete a two-round online prioritisation process.

Mycoplasma genitalium in pregnancy, including specific co-infections, is associated with lower birthweight: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium infection in pregnancy is increasingly reported at similar frequencies to other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Knowledge on its contribution to adverse pregnancy outcomes is very limited, especially relative to other STIs or bacterial vaginosis (BV). Whether M.

Investigating socio-ecological factors influencing implementation of tuberculosis infection prevention and control in rural Papua New Guinea.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly transmissible infectious disease killing millions of people yearly, particularly in low-income countries. TB is most likely to be transmitted in healthcare settings with poor infection control practices. Implementing TB infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) is pivotal to preventing TB transmission in healthcare settings.

Epidemiology of eye diseases: outcomes from a free provincial eye clinic in Papua New Guinea.

Aim: To ascertain the prevalence and pattern of eye problems in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Materials And Methods: A six-month retrospective study was performed at Madang Provincial Hospital Eye Clinic. Convenience sampling was used in this study and all patient records from January to June 2020 were included.

The direct medical cost of breast cancer management in a provincial hospital of Papua New Guinea: A cost of illness study of consecutive patients from 2017 to 2022.

Background: Breast cancer is a major global health, gender and socioeconomic challenge. In PNG it is the leading cause of female mortality. Understanding direct medical costs related to breast cancer management can direct resource allocation and investment in breast cancer screening, treatment, infastructure and training.

Sociocultural and Behavioral Features of Anticipated COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Papua New Guinea: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.

Background: COVID-19 was characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic in 2020. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has remained on high alert ever since, and its National Control Centre continues to coordinate national preparedness and response measures, guided by its Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19. As part of the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization's COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program, PNG received several shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Tuberculosis infection prevention and control in rural Papua New Guinea: an evaluation using the infection prevention and control assessment framework.

Background: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the 14 countries categorised as having a triple burden of tuberculosis (TB), multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB), and TB-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infections. TB infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) guidelines were introduced in 2011 by the National Health Department of PNG. This study assesses the implementation of this policy in a sample of district hospitals in two regions of PNG.

What tuberculosis infection control measures are effective in resource-constrained primary healthcare facilities? A systematic review of the literature.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health challenge, killing millions of people, despite the availability of preventive TB medication. The majority of these infections and deaths occur in low-income countries. Therefore, practical public health strategies are required to reduce the global TB burden in these countries effectively.

Pf7: an open dataset of genome variation in 20,000 worldwide samples.

We describe the MalariaGEN Pf7 data resource, the seventh release of genome variation data from the MalariaGEN network.  It comprises over 20,000 samples from 82 partner studies in 33 countries, including several malaria endemic regions that were previously underrepresented.  For the first time we include dried blood spot samples that were sequenced after selective whole genome amplification, necessitating new methods to genotype copy number variations.

Low knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women in Papua New Guinea and implications for health seeking behaviour in early infancy - findings from a longitudinal study.

Background: Globally, 2.5 million babies die in the first 28 days of life each year with most of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Early recognition of newborn danger signs is important in prompting timely care seeking behaviour.

The origins and development of physician anaesthesiology training in Papua New Guinea: From colonial days to the current era.

Papua New Guinea is a Pacific country that remains an enigma to the world at large. Despite massive geographical challenges due to mountainous terrain, remote islands, poverty, and with 80% of the population of over eight million living in rural villages, Papua New Guinea has managed to develop national medical and postgraduate specialty training. The first recorded anaesthetic was administered in Papua New Guinea in 1880 and the first anaesthetist trained in 1968.

Prevalence and Distribution of Refractive Errors among Ophthalmic Patients in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence and distribution of refractive errors in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Methods: A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted at Madang Provincial Hospital Eye Clinic. It is a free eye clinic and spectacle costs are further subsidized by a nongovernmental organization.

Prevalence of Risk Factors of Retinal Diseases among Patients in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Purpose: To explore the prevalence of risk factors of retinal diseases among patients seeking services from Madang Provincial Hospital Eye Clinic in Papua New Guinea.

Materials And Methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted at the only eye clinic serving the entire Madang province of Papua New Guinea. Purposive sampling was used to obtain data from patients' record cards at the eye clinic from January to June 2021.

Effectiveness of immunization activities on measles and rubella immunity among individuals in East Sepik, Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess measles and rubella immunity by measuring virus-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) prevalence among individuals and evaluate the effectiveness of recent supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) by comparing the antibody positivity rates of the SIA target age groups in 2015 with those in 2019 as measles and rubella are endemic in Papua New Guinea.

Methods: A cross-sectional study. The measles- and rubella-specific IgG levels of patients aged ≥1 year at two clinics in East Sepik province, Papua New Guinea were assessed with commercially available virus-specific IgG EIA kits.

The missing bit in the middle: Implementation of the Nationals Health Services Standards for Papua New Guinea.

Objective: This case study examined implementation of the National Health Services Standards (NHSSs) as a continuous quality improvement (CQI) process at three church-based health facilities in Papua New Guinea. This process was designed to improve quality of care and accredit the level three health centers to level four as district hospitals to provide a higher level of care. The aims of the paper are to critically examine driving and restraining forces in CQI implementation and analyses how power influences agenda setting for change.

Knowledge and Awareness of Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy among Patients Seeking Eye Care Services in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Purpose: To assess the knowledge and awareness of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy among ophthalmic patients in Madang.

Materials And Methods: This was a hospital-based study conducted at Madang Provincial Hospital Eye Clinic in Papua New Guinea. The study included all patients who visited the facility during the period of the study.

Factors associated with loss to follow-up among TB patients in rural Papua New Guinea.

Background: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a lower middle-income country that has struggled to contain TB. The loss of patients to follow-up is a major contributing factor towards the high disease burden.

Objective: To describe persons with drug-susceptible TB (DS-TB) registered for treatment at the Gaubin Rural Hospital (GRH) on Karkar Island, Madang Province, PNG, and to investigate factors associated with patient loss to follow-up (LTFU).

Increase in the proportion of Plasmodium falciparum with kelch13 C580Y mutation and decline in pfcrt and pfmdr1 mutant alleles in Papua New Guinea.

Background: The C580Y mutation in the Plasmodium falciparum kelch13 gene is the most commonly observed variant in artemisinin-resistant isolates in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Until 2017, it had not been identified outside the GMS, except for Guyana/Amazonia. In 2017, three parasites carrying the C580Y mutation were identified in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Physical activity and sitting time in occupational groups from Papua New Guinea.

Purpose: To assess physical activity and sitting time in workers from varied occupations in a regional urban population of Papua New Guinea (PNG), to identify priorities for worker health in a country experiencing rapid industrial development.

Methods: PNG workers from a variety of settings (office [n = 213], blue-collar [n = 131], and retail [n = 52]) completed an interviewer-administered demographic questionnaire, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form (IPAQ) and the Occupational Sitting and Physical Activity Questionnaire (OSPAQ); and had height and weight measured. Comparison of activity and sitting time between occupational groups was undertaken using generalised linear equations, with models including demographic variables and sitting time/physical activity as appropriate.

History of non-physician anaesthesia providers in Papua New Guinea: from heil tultuls to Anaesthetic Scientific Officers.

The most recent estimates, published in 2016, have indicated that around 70% of anaesthesia providers in Papua New Guinea are non-physician anaesthetic providers and that they administer over 90% of anaesthetics, with a significant number unsupervised by a physician anaesthetist. Papua New Guinea has a physician anaesthetist ratio estimated to be 0.25 per 100,000 population, while Australia and New Zealand have a ratio of 19 physician anaesthetists per 100,000, which is 75 times that of Papua New Guinea.

Spatial prediction of malaria prevalence in Papua New Guinea: a comparison of Bayesian decision network and multivariate regression modelling approaches for improved accuracy in prevalence prediction.

Background: Considerable progress towards controlling malaria has been made in Papua New Guinea through the national malaria control programme's free distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets, improved diagnosis with rapid diagnostic tests and improved access to artemisinin combination therapy. Predictive prevalence maps can help to inform targeted interventions and monitor changes in malaria epidemiology over time as control efforts continue. This study aims to compare the predictive performance of prevalence maps generated using Bayesian decision network (BDN) models and multilevel logistic regression models (a type of generalized linear model, GLM) in terms of malaria spatial risk prediction accuracy.