Restricting Party Hopping in Papua New Guinea’s Parliament

This paper argues that legislative initiative is needed to control party hopping by members of parliament (MPs), especially during the constitutional period for the moving of a motion of no confidence in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) governs political parties in PNG. In 2003, certain amendments were made to OLIPPAC to control party hopping. However, the provisions were challenged in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court nullified those amendments on the basis that they restricted and infringed the constitutional rights of MPs and were unconstitutional. The political conditions following the court’s decision contributed to the constitutional crisis/impasse of 2011–12 and, later, the constitutional confusion of 2020. The Supreme Court’s expectations for MPs to act in an orderly way through education have not been achieved. The challenge is to construct the OLIPPAC legislation in conformity with the court’s deliberation. Rather than infringing and restricting MPs’ rights, the balance should be to regulate those rights for a certain amount of time. The current crisis and confusion being faced should prompt the relevant law reform institutions to tailor a possible legislative solution.Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trad

Legal Transplants: A conflict of statutory law and customary Law in Papua New Guinea

The state of Papua New Guinea adopted the common law system of government in 1975 during independence. The genesis of most if not all its legislation can be traced back to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other commonwealth countries. The tendency for legal transplants of legislative texts from these common law jurisdictions to sections of Papua New Guinean laws has been a constant reoccurrence. With huge texts of laws transplanted it begs the question whether these laws are coherent with existing laws and appropriate for Papua New Guinea. This paper analyses the existing Mining Act 1992 and Oil and Gas Act 1998 vesting ownership of minerals and petroleum in the State although these resources are located on customary land. I will use the said acts to establish the hypothesis that, in the rush to transplant legislation from Australia, this transplanted provision fails the functionality test and is not effective in Papua New Guinea. I will also try and point out the effects and solutions to redress this situation. Keywords: Customary law, alienated land, legal transplants, functionality tes

The Need for Law Reform in Papua New Guinea: Part 1

This In Brief is the first in a two-part series on law reform in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Part 1 highlights the importance of law reform and law reform bodies as well as the existing barriers to the implementation of adequate law reform. Part 2 deals with the difficulties of criminalising drugs new to PNG.Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trad

The Need for Law Reform in Papua New Guinea: Part 2 — Updating Drug Laws

This paper is the second part in a two-part series on the need for law reform in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Part 1 outlined some challenges for law reform and suggested that with more attention and political will, progress can be made. This second part highlights how some drugs entering into PNG, such as methamphetamine, were not captured by the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and in response, the PNG parliament recently passed the Controlled Substance Act 2021.Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trad

Infant feeding in the context of HIV: a qualitative study of health care workers’ knowledge of recommended infant feeding options in Papua New Guinea

BACKGROUND: Interventions to prevent mother to child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during childbirth and breastfeeding can reduce HIV infections in infants to less than 5% in low and middle income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all mothers, regardless of their HIV status, practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant’s life. In line with these recommendations and to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, in 2009 the PNG National Department of Health revised their National HIV infant feeding guidelines, reinforcing the WHO recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months followed by the introduction of other food and fluids, while continuing breastfeeding. The overall aim of this paper is to explore health care workers’ knowledge regarding infant feeding options in PNG, specifically as they relate to HIV exposed infants. METHODS: As part of a study investigating women’s and men’s experiences of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services in two sites in PNG, 28 key informant interviews were undertaken. This paper addresses one theme that emerged from thematic data analysis: Health care workers’ knowledge regarding infant feeding options, specifically how this knowledge reflects the Papua New Guinea National HIV Care and Treatment Guidelines on HIV and infant feeding (2009). RESULTS: Most informants mentioned exclusive breastfeeding, the majority of whom reflected the most up-to-date National Guidelines of exclusive breastfeeding for six months. The importance of breastfeeding continuing beyond this time, along with the introduction of food and fluids was less well understood. The most senior people involved in PMTCT were the informants who most accurately reflected the national guidelines of continuing breastfeeding after six months. CONCLUSION: Providing advice on optimal infant feeding in resource poor settings is problematic, especially in relation to HIV transmission. Findings from our study reflect those found elsewhere in identifying that key health care workers are not aware of up-to-date information relating to infant feeding, especially within the context of HIV. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring the most recent feeding guidelines are disseminated and implemented in clinical practice in PNG

Impact on pregnancy outcomes of intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in urban and peri-urban Papua New Guinea: a retrospective cohort study

Background: Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) reduces malaria-attributable adverse pregnancy outcomes and may also prevent low birth weight (< 2,500 g) through mechanisms independent of malaria. Malaria transmission in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is highly heterogeneous. The impact of IPTp-SP on adverse birth outcomes in settings with little or no malaria transmission, such as PNG’s capital city Port Moresby, is unknown. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted amongst HIV-negative women with a singleton pregnancy who delivered at Port Moresby General Hospital between 18 July and 21 August 2022. The impact of IPTp-SP doses on adverse birth outcomes and anaemia was assessed using logistic and linear regression models, as appropriate. Results: Of 1,140 eligible women amongst 1,228 consecutive births, 1,110 had a live birth with a documented birth weight. A total of 156 women (13.7%) did not receive any IPTp-SP, 347 women (30.4%) received one, 333 (29.2%) received two, and 304 (26.7%) received the recommended ≥ 3 doses of IPTp-SP. A total of 65 of 1,110 liveborn babies (5.9%) had low birth weight and there were 34 perinatal deaths (3.0%). Anaemia (haemoglobin < 100 g/L) was observed in 30.6% (243/793) of women, and 14 (1.2%) had clinical malaria in pregnancy. Compared to women receiving 0–1 dose of IPTp-SP, women receiving ≥ 2 doses had lower odds of LBW (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.26, 0.96), preterm birth (aOR 0.58; 95% CI 0.32, 1.04), perinatal death (aOR 0.49; 95% CI 0.18, 1.38), LBW/perinatal death (aOR 0.55; 95% CI 0.27, 1.12), and anaemia (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.36, 0.69). Women who received 2 doses versus 0–1 had 45% lower odds of LBW (aOR 0.55, 95% CI 0.27, 1.10), and a 16% further (total 61%) reduction with ≥ 3 doses (aOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.14, 1.05). Birth weights for women who received 2 or ≥ 3 doses versus 0–1 were 81 g (95% CI −3, 166) higher, and 151 g (58, 246) higher, respectively. Conclusions: Provision of IPTp-SP in a low malaria-transmission setting in PNG appears to translate into substantial health benefits, in a dose–response manner, supporting the strengthening IPTp-SP uptake across all transmission settings in PNG

Health communication messaging about HPV vaccine in Papua New Guinea.

Objective: The type of health education messages that communities and individuals seek to have communicated about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is important if vaccine programmes are to succeed, especially in settings such as Papua New Guinea (PNG), which have a high burden of cervical cancer, low health literacy and negative experiences of earlier vaccination programmes. This study sought to identify the health education messages that are viewed as most appropriate in such a context. Methodology: A qualitative study using gender-specific focus group discussions (N = 21) and semi-structured interviews (N = 82) was undertaken in three sites in PNG. Sites included both rural and urban locations in Milne Bay, Eastern Highlands and Western Highlands Provinces. Results: Two divergent discourses emerged. One group of participants, largely young people, felt communication messages should stress that HPV is a preventable sexually transmitted infection, which can cause cervical cancer. The other group, mainly members of the older population, believed that messaging should focus on the vaccine as a prevention strategy for cervical cancer. A small minority wanted both aspects of the vaccine discussed. Conclusion: Sensitivity needs to be taken when engaging with communities which have negative experiences of earlier infant immunisation programmes. Ensuring that the health communication needs and priorities of different sections of the populations are taken into account is key to the successful introduction and roll-out of HPV vaccination in this setting

Point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted and genital infections during pregnancy in Papua New Guinea (WANTAIM trial): protocol for an economic evaluation alongside a cluster-randomised trial

Introduction: Left untreated, sexually transmitted and genital infections (henceforth STIs) in pregnancy can lead to serious adverse outcomes for mother and child. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has among the highest prevalence of curable STIs including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis, and high neonatal mortality rates. Diagnosis and treatment of these STIs in PNG rely on syndromic management. Advances in STI diagnostics through point-of-care (PoC) testing using GeneXpert technology hold promise for resource-constrained countries such as PNG. This paper describes the planned economic evaluation of a cluster-randomised cross-over trial comparing antenatal PoC testing and immediate treatment of curable STIs with standard antenatal care in two provinces in PNG. Methods and analysis: Cost-effectiveness of the PoC intervention compared with standard antenatal care will be assessed prospectively over the trial period (2017–2021) from societal and provider perspectives. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios will be calculated for the primary health outcome, a composite measure of the proportion of either preterm birth and/or low birth weight; for life years saved; for disability-adjusted life years averted; and for non-health benefits (financial risk protection and improved health equity). Scenario analyses will be conducted to identify scale-up options, and budget impact analysis will be undertaken to understand short-term financial impacts of intervention adoption on the national budget. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis will be conducted to account for uncertainty in key model inputs. Ethics and dissemination: This study has ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the PNG Institute of Medical Research; the Medical Research Advisory Committee of the PNG National Department of Health; the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of New South Wales; and the Research Ethics Committee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Findings will be disseminated through national stakeholder meetings, conferences, peer-reviewed publications and policy briefs

HPV vaccination in Papua New Guinea to prevent cervical cancer in women: Gender, sexual morality, outsiders and the de-feminization of the HPV vaccine

First study of HPV vaccine acceptability in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. Evidence of strong support for the vaccination of both girls and boys against HPV in Papua New Guinea. Local beliefs and concerns about HPV immunisation may impact acceptability in Papua New Guinea. Suspicion of Western medicine and health care workers reported in rural areas

Shigella spp. Antimicrobial Drug Resistance, Papua New Guinea, 2000–2009

Approximately half the Shigella spp. infections in developing countries are caused by endemic shigellae (1), which in these countries are responsible for ¡Ö10% of all episodes of diarrhea among childre