Bringing health care closer to mothers, babies and rural communities

3 January 2023

For every 1000 babies that are born alive in Papua New Guinea, 20 will die while they are still newborns. This is one of the highest rates of newborn mortality in the world. Mothers, too, are at risk, with 171 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, according to the Papua New Guinea Demographic and Health Survey 2016-18.

Most of these deaths are preventable through better knowledge and access to family planning and contraception, timely antenatal care and deliveries supervised by a health worker.

WHO is working with the National Department of Health and Provincial Health Authorities to improve these grim figures and save lives. Scroll through the photos below to see how.

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West Sepik health care worker and WHO staff speaking to men of the Green River community on their important role in maternal and child health.

Speaking to men of the Green River community on their important role in maternal and child health

Sister Christine, the Unit Manager at Sandaun Provincial Hospital travelled over 6 hours on bumpy roads to visit the Green River community in West Sepik. “Most of the villages around here are a long distance away from the health centre,” she says. “People have to travel for hours and hours.”

That means that it’s vital to bring information and services to the community wherever possible. Sister Christine proposes to make routine outreach visits to communities to share information about the importance of antenatal care, as well as danger signs to watch out for so women can seek health care in time if there is any risk to themselves or their baby.

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A WHO staff member pre-tests the Maternal and Child Health outreach materials with provincial staff, to make sure they are relevant, understandable and engaging.

Pre-testing maternal and child health outreach materials

To ensure these community outreach visits are effective, WHO, the National Department of Health and other partners have developed toolkits for health workers and village health assistants, including visual materials to help them explain maternal and child health issues to communities.

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WHO staff member consults the Green River community about maternal and child health care issues.

WHO staff member consults the Green River community about maternal and child health care issues

WHO is supporting the National Department of Health and Provincial Health Authorities to consult with community members on their maternal and child health care needs. Community input is crucial to making sure the issues are understood and can be addressed in effective, culturally appropriate ways.

In West Sepik, meetings were also held with health workers and district health managers to discuss human resource needs and improvements, including strengthening the village health volunteer programme.

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Sister Christine and WHO staff consult with community members at Green River, where a new district hospital is being developed.

Consulting with community members on the development of a new district hospital

Outreach and consultation are important parts of bringing health care closer to people living in rural areas. In line with this goal, Dr Madeline Salva is working towards the improvement of the Green River clinic’s local capacity and facilities so patients will not have to take that difficult 6-hour journey when they need primary health care attention.

Sister Christine believes that the new hospital will make an enormous difference to people living in rural areas. “It will cut down the cost and the hours for them to travel to the closest health facility,” she says. “Any antenatal mothers or other sick people can be treated at the hospital. It will help them.”

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