Papua New Guinea: The one-on-one personal approach goes to work for COVID-19 protection

With funding from WHO’s Civil Society Organization Initiative, B4H staff member Teresa Koratsi (centre) and colleagues met business owners and workers one on one or in small groups to promote the safety messages of the Government’s official Niupela Pasin (New Normal) campaign.  

“We do face-to-face education and that has proven to be very meaningful to people,” said Teresa Koratsi.  

“They really appreciated us talking to them face to face, which enabled them to ask questions and we were able to answer them on the spot.  

“We educated the workplaces about the Niupela Pasin which in turn helped to reduce the misconceptions,” she said.  

“By talking to people and getting them to change their behaviour or changing their thoughts about the vaccine or about infectious diseases then they get to influence the person next to them.” 

During the project, the B4H team began to see participants wearing masks, which is one element of the Niupela Pasin campaign, that also includes hand hygiene, cough and sneeze hygiene, physical distancing and staying home when people are sick. 

In Papua New Guinea, as in other countries, the pandemic has been difficult for businesses, with staff off work because of sickness, the effect of lockdowns and movement restrictions, and less demand for some goods.  

Employers and supervisors, like other people in society, have a role to play in reducing the risk of community transmission of the virus, while supporting ongoing social and economic recovery. They can take actions to keep settings safe, such as ensuring policies are in place to encourage physical distancing, improving ventilation, encouraging staff to stay home when they are unwell, providing hand-washing facilities and giving staff time off to be vaccinated.  

Mohammad Lebu, manager at Happy Supermarket, agreed that overcoming the pandemic requires a collective effort.  

“Most of the staff fell sick from COVID-19. We must all help to stop the spread of COVID-19.” 

Hill Aruda (pictured), the service sales manager at K.R. Tyre Services, told B4H he was grateful to find out more about how to keep staff and customers safe.  

“I learned more about that new normal washing their hands with the sanitizer and people avoid being in crowded groups.” 

One business leader told B4H she had arranged for her frontline staff to be vaccinated, as they dealt with the public and moved around the city a lot.  

Another manager said he was happy to see the B4H team bringing messages that other health promoters were not confident enough to do.  

“Over five days spent at [one] mall, B4H was able to engage over 100 SME [small and medium-sized] businesses, deepening the shop-owners’ knowledge about vaccination, in particular the COVID-19 vaccination. The first three days we spent deliver COVID-19 information talks. All the facts, plain and simple,” said B4H’s Andrew Kuliniasi. 

B4H countered rumours, misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19, and shared links to official government statistics and advice that people could access on their mobile phones. 

The team faced many obstacles, including “the usual naysayers, doubters, haters.” 

Language was another obstacle, as many small business operators and managers were migrants who did not speak English or the widely used official language, Tok Pisin. In some instances, employees helped translate B4H’s messages and explain to their shop floor manager the purpose of these sessions and how local COVID-19 and TB services work. 

During second visits to shops and businesses, B4H staff reinforced messages and checked on progress.  

Some business owners and employees had become champions of accurate health messaging. One employee told B4H’s Teresa Koratsi that she had spent a weekend talking to other mothers in her group of friends and neighbourhoods and sharing the information materials.  The woman told her contacts how COVID-19 spread, and encouraged the mothers to stick to the Niupela Pasin.  

The sessions had an impact on the woman too.  

“I am now going to get vaccinated - I just have to! I am talking to clients every day and the risk of transmission is there.”  

She also pledged to encourage three colleagues to be vaccinated.  

Her motivation? The two visits by B4H. 

This worker was not alone - 98% of participants reported they could share their new knowledge with their family and community members. 

The door-to-door visits concluded with B4H setting up information booths nearby, where business owners, staff and customers could ask questions, and get more information on protecting themselves and those around them. 

“Despite the challenges, we saw a lot of change. On our last day at Unity Mall in Waigani, we set up a booth outside where people could collect consent forms for vaccination. More than a few people turned up and it was also nice to see, on the inside, more shop owners wearing masks,” said Andrew Kuliniasi of B4H.  

“How do you unlock a closed mind? Well information is the key!” 

WHO Papua New Guinea Country Representative Dr Sevil Huseynova said, “WHO is proud to partner with organizations like B4H to ensure important health messages are reaching the unreached such as small business owners and staff. The pandemic is a reminder that we must leave no one behind if we are to successfully manage infectious diseases like COVID-19 or tuberculosis. Equitable access to information, prevention and care is essential to a healthier future for Papua New Guinea.” 

Papua New Guinea’s National Department of Health has highlighted community engagement as a key element in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO’s Civil Society Organization Initiative complements outreach efforts by the Government in communities and health centres throughout the country.