Author Archive

Malnutrition a Silent Emergency Papua New Guinea

Inter Press Service: High up in the mountainous interior of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the most populous Pacific Island state of 7.3 million people, rural lives are marked by strenuous work toiling land in rugged terrain with low access to basic services. While more than 80 per cent of people are engaged in subsistence agriculture and village food gardens are visible across the landscape, widespread malnutrition, especially in children, is stubbornly evident. Last year this under-reported health issue, which contributes...

Papua New Guinea Casts Wide Net Against Malaria

Inter Press Service: In Papua New Guinea, a Pacific Island nation located south of the equator, 90 percent of the population is at risk of malaria and 1.9 million cases are reported every year. But, according to a recent medical study, a programme to distribute long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to every district in the country has dramatically reduced malaria infections. The World Health Organisation (WHO) claims half the world's population is susceptible to the infectious disease transmitted to humans...

Women Call the Shots on Mega Copper Mine

Inter Press Service: Whether the world’s largest open-cut mine on this island territory of Papua New Guinea (PNG) will resume copper and gold production, after being mothballed for 22 years, will depend on how satisfied matrilineal landowners are with the proposals. The women landowners are already raising issues about the potential impact on their land and communities if copper mining resumes at the site in the central mountainous district of Panguna. "What sort of mining and with what process will it reopen?"...