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Tuberculosis, the scourge of PNG
Health TUBERCULOSIS: THE SCOURGE OF PNG
BY BRONWEN GORA
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the planet’s oldest preventable diseases. Yet in Papua New Guinea it has long been an epidemic and a leading cause of death. Here, the highly contagious lung disease has one of the highest prevalence rates in the world.
About 30,000 people in PNG every year contract TB – in 2018 alone 37,000 contracted the disease and 4500 died – and now the arrival of COVID-19 has resources battling TB outbreaks stretched to the limit.
The airborne bacteria that cause TB thrive in the tropics. These bacteria proliferate in overcrowded areas and, when contracted, usually targets the lungs creating symptoms of severe cough, sometimes with blood, along with weakness, chest pain, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
TB remains particularly problematic in PNG because the country is among just over a dozen worldwide threatened by three main strains of the bacteria: those that are easier to treat, those that are multi-drug-resitant and those that are extensively drug resistant. Health authorities such as childfund.org.au are concerned the heavy focus on combating COVID-19 will allow a rise in multidrug resistant TB, the most virulent strain, which requires around two years of expensive treatment, which even then delivers only a 50% success rate.
Further complicating matters is that treatment for even the regular strain of TB demands precise dosages of medication at the right times for six months minimum. Not surprisingly, 20% of patients do not complete their treatment, according to World Vision. Furthermore, up to 90% of Papua New Guineans live in remote rural areas where access to health services is limited.
Fortunately, however, TB is largely preventable through simple practices.
Chief among them are: Early diagnosis Deemed the most effective way of reducing spread when followed by medication. Seek medical attention if you develop a nasty, painful cough with fever. Once a person starts medication it takes about two weeks for them to be no longer infectious. But should they remain undiagnosed and unmedicated, a contagious person can infect up to 15 other people over several months. Vaccination 80% effective against TB for 15 years. Healthy diet & clean living Up to 60% of adults with strong immune systems can ward off TB according to TBAlert.org. Good ventilation Open windows, doors and get as much fresh air as possible because TB particles thrive in enclosed environments for several hours. Bright natural light The sun’s UV rays kill TB bacteria. Hygienic practices Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing to help prevent the spread of TB.
Focus A PNG SNAPSHOT
THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF VETERAN PHOTOGRAPHER ROCKY ROE
Above: A high school student poses at a cultural festival at Cameron High School in Alotau. The photo was shot with studio lights and a film camera, so there was no knowing if the photo had worked until the film was later developed in a dark room. It was taken in 2003. Right: Kids having fun at a cultural show at Ela Beach in the early 2000s. Rocky Roe says he sometimes made funny sounds to get people to relax, and perhaps that’s why the kids were laughing. Bottom right: Rocky Roe recalls being on assignment in a helicopter in Gulf Province when he took this shot of a man building a traditional dugout canoe. “We landed, and I probably spent 10 minutes with the man before flying to the next location,” he says.
You may not know it, but you may be carrying a photo taken by Rocky Roe in your wallet. Roe, 74, is a veteran photographer who was based in Port Moresby for 44 years, until his recent retirement and move back to Queensland, Australia. During his decades in PNG, he travelled around the country, photographing people and places. “I did lots of portraits of politicians and candidates for elections,” he says. “I’ve photographed all the prime ministers. I took the photo of Michael Somare that’s on the 50-kina bank note. “I went almost anywhere someone was drilling or digging a big hole – mines and oil fields,” he adds. Roe’s portfolio includes rugby league, village life, landscapes, people at work, Miss PNG balls, corporate photography for big companies such as Oil Search, and visits by prime ministers from other countries. He even photographed the opening of Parliament Haus by Prince Charles in 1984.
“I did lots of photography from helicopters, and recently from drones,” he says. Roe, born and raised in the suburbs of Adelaide in South Australia, first arrived PNG in 1976 to work as a fitter and turner for Bougainville Copper. He had a passion for photography and tried to join Bougainville Copper’s photography department, without success. Eventually, he landed a job as a photographer with Gordon Sioni Pacific Advertising in Port Moresby. A few years later he started working for himself as a freelance photographer. “Bougainville Copper twice offered me the position in their photographic department that I had wanted while on the island, but I liked working from Port Moresby, from where I was travelling all over the country taking pictures. I was a happy chappie. It was the luckiest move in my life, coming to and staying in PNG,” he says. So, has he really retired? “No. Sort of. Almost. Not sure. Maybe. Yes. I’d like to think ‘no’. I don’t know.”
Above: Some children are focused on their work, while others are focused on the camera in this elementary school in the Markham Valley. Rocky Roe says the teacher had two adjoining classrooms running at the same time. In the other class, he had children counting with sticks. Right: Grand Chief Michael Somare with his wife Lady Veronica Somare and grandchildren, taken for an official Christmas card in 2004.
Above and right: Rugby league is huge in PNG and Rocky Roe often found himself with camera in hand at matches. “This game is at the main ground in Port Moresby and it’s the PNG Hunters playing the WM Seagulls,” he says.
Right: Rocky Roe was invited to stay in this village on Kiriwina Island in the Trobriand Islands in 1979. He stayed for three weeks and witnessed this ceremony involving the handing over of grass skirts from one group of women to another.
Above: Cooling off at Lihir Island. “This may have just been a happy snap I took for myself,” says Rocky Roe who was often travelling across the country on assignment.
Above: In the Trobriand Islands, a boy’s chest is adorned with polished shells and traditional shell money necklaces. Right: A lagatoi arrives at Ela Beach on a Saturday morning in the 1990s for the Hiri Moale Festival.
Left: Cocoa being unloaded from trucks at Kieta on Bougainville Island in 1984. Rocky Roe says this was before the days of TV when everyone went to the movie theatre. He was traveling with a crew filming an ad for ANGCO, whose business it was to export cocoa.
