The past couple of outreaches were particularly special for me as it was the first time I’ve been let loose leading a PHC (primary healthcare) team. This meant taking on more responsibilities, sharpening my delegation skills and learning more about what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to leading a team. In addition to this I was still leading the lab, so there have been big days and some late nights in the lab trying to run all the TB samples.
The highlight for me was being able to revisit villages which we went to at the end of last year where we found multiple cases of MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant tuberculosis) and getting to see how the patients were doing.
Drug resistance occurs when people fail to take their medication correctly, some people after taking their meds for a couple weeks feel better and stop taking them, others experience the side effects of the drugs and throw the drugs away thinking that they are bad. MDR-TB spreads the same way drug susceptible TB does and so right from the get go someone can catch MDR-TB and spread it around the village.
The treatment course for MDR-TB is 18 months with a lot of that in isolation and needing to be transferred to Daru which is the closest hospital where they can be treated. This can be a huge burden for the families and village as a whole as during this time the patient/s cannot tend their farms to support their family and instead are completely reliant on them over the 18 months as the hospital is unable to provide food and other basic needs other than a bed.
However, there has been a huge breakthrough this year in the treatment for MDR-TB, the course has been cut down to just 6 months. In the villages we revisited I got to chat with relatives of those who we tested previously for MDR-TB and they reported that they are all doing well and are among the TB patients on the shorter 6 months course. This means that by now they should all be healthy again and back in their villages.
Outreach in photos
The boats in the distance on the top right hand side is where the team are making their way towards
This was one of the muddier outreaches we have been a part of. Getting hosed down with a fire house on entering the ship became a nearly everyday thing!
What clinic can look like. Set up under a big community shelter with all hands on deck for outpatient consults.
Mellony navigating a muddy log
There was a malaria outbreak in one of the areas we were working in. I’m checking a malaria RDT (rapid diagnostic test) which makes it easy to diagnose so then we can treat it.
A few other updates on what’s happening
Nabbing this shot from a friend’s Facebook
Dry dock | The ship was due for dry docking this year, and is currently out of the water in the Philippines! The ship will be there for a few months undergoing maintenance, and is due to be back in PNG again for outreach in the last quarter of the year.
Annual report | Our annual report for 2024 is out! This report provides a summary of what we did in 2024, across all our medical work in PNG. You can have a look at it here.
Upcoming trip home | We’ve just started planning our trip back to the UK this year! We’re coming back to England in September and will be around for a few weeks visiting friends and family.
Thank you for your continuing support!
