Army medics hard at work

HEALTH

By JESHER TILTO
THERE are some remarkable individuals in this world that do so much that we do not hear about.
A group of such people can be found in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). Most times when we think of the PNGDF, or any other military force in the world, we may only think of the camouflaged uniforms, the weaponry and the men and women who stand sturdily at their post.
While all these are true, there are other members who are a part of military forces that do not get the recognition they deserve.
In the PNGDF’s First Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1RPIR), they are the Preventive Medicine Platoon.
According to its officer commanding, Captain Ryan Manzin, the services they provide are just as important as any other in the force.
He said that they were the “first people on the ground” whenever there was a disease outbreak or medical services was needed in the rural areas of the country.
“We were on the frontline during the recent Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in the country, handling the decontamination of items and also assisted in education and awareness of the disease,” he said.
“If one of our guys is not with the infantry, they will have to require one of us to go with them.
“Since our formation on Aug 30, 1973 we have done so many things,” he said.
He said many of the programmes they conducted included malaria testing, treatment of mosquito nets, pest control and studies of waterborne and vector borne diseases.
“We do fogging to kill mosquitoes and other harmful insects. On our recent operation to Northern in February we helped the provincial health authority to investigate reports of an outbreak, which we found that it was pertussis (whooping cough) and contained the situation.
“The outbreak was due to a lack of immunisation because that area was very isolated,” he said.
“It is now contained.
“For any outbreaks, we do investigations and we report about it.
Capt Manzin also said that funding and the lack of resources have made it difficult to for the unit to conduct their operations.
“Most our equipment is expensive like the water testing kit which was last used in 2009, when there was a cholera outbreak in Morobe.
“The platoon was even called on to help in Northern when Cyclone Guba occurred in 2008. Now, most of our equipment is rundown and we do not have the funding to get it back up and running.
“Last year, I went to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Malaria and Infectious Disease Institute and we have been working together with them since,” he said.

Preventive Medicine Platoon
Capt Manzin and his team were able to disclose the following information about the Preventive Medicine Platoon.
The aim of the platoon is to fulfill the need for a unit, which could be able to provide certain preventive medical services for both the PNGDF and the Government.
The unit is responsible to provide aspects of preventive medical services to support and maintain the health and well-being of army personnel and their dependents.
Preventive medicine is made up of highly trained professionals who are often called upon to work in a variety of operations and non-operational conditions, which their civilian counterparts would find daunting.
Preventive medicine personnel must achieve and maintain a high level of health and fitness to enable them to carry out their duties with the drive, determination and efficiency to allow the PNGDF to fight more effectively than the enemy.
The platoon has proven its capability in various disasters such as the tsunami in Aitape, West Sepik, Manam Island volcano eruption in Madang, flooding in Northern, the Bumbu flood in Lae, etc.
The role of the unit is to prevent disease and promote health.
Specific roles are in support of the PNGDF and promote preventive health measures.

PNGDF’s Preventive Medicine Platoon fighting an ever present enemy but without usual artillery

This involves advice, education and surveillance on: food sanitation, safe water supply, disease vector control, safe barracks and field accommodation, sanitary waste disposal, communicable disease control and occupational health and safety programmes.
They assist area preventive medical staff whenever required.
In support of the Government, they provide a “flying squad” to combat a disease situation in any part of PNG as directed by the Health Department.
This normally involves the control of outbreaks and emergency health assistance to victims of natural disasters.
The team assists civil health authorities in health improvement programmes, such as malaria control, immunisation, health education, nutrition surveys, communicable disease surveys, and water supply and sanitation surveys.
Their other roles include:
ASSESS environmental and occupational health threats by gathering and evaluating information obtained through health intelligence sources, on-site surveys, health surveillance and by considering the impact of the mission and friendly situation;
DETERMINE and implement counter measures to minimize the environmental and occupational health threats including vector/pest control, water quality analysis, food safety, waste management and sanitation;
CONDUCT surveys and perform testing to continue to assess environmental and occupational health threats and counter implementation during deployment; and,
PROVIDE advice on the full range of preventive medicine issues to medical and non-medical personnel to foster the promotion of health and prevention causalities.
The unit is directly under the command of the Director of Land Operations, Headquarters (HQ) PNGDF, for operational command and control.
Technical command and control is exercised by the Director of Health Services.
Local administration is fostered by HQ, Taurama Barracks.
Since the formation of PNGDF Preventive Medicine Platoon in 1973, it has successfully conducted more than 30 operations.
Only 20 per cent of these are in support of PNGDF and the other 80 per cent is in support of the Government.
These operations included:

• Feb 23, 2023 – assisted Northern Provincial Health Authority in an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in Kira local level government (LLG);
• Covid-19 operations, major decontamination and prevention in the country;
• 2009-2010 Operation “Unamaisa” – outbreak of cholera in Morobe;
• 2007-2008 Operation “Najooe” – flood in Northern;
• 2005 – Operation “Wari Durua” – Manam volcano, Madang;
• 1999- “Malvector Hunt”- A joint operation by PNGDF Preventive Medicine Platoon and Vector Control Unit of the National Capital District; and,
• 1998 – Operation “Tsunami” – Sisano Lagoon, Aitape, West Sepik.

The platoon has also been involved overseas, particularly in:
May, 2009 – Manila, Philippines (Regional Disaster Relief Response exercise involving 27 countries including the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia); August, 2007- involved with the Humanitarian mission in Madang; and 1989 Operation “Van Med 89”- participated in medical exercise in Vanuatu, organised and conducted by the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps. The exercise involved survey and treatment of yaws outbreak, survey and treatment of malaria and filariasis, mosquito control and collected blood samples.
The platoon is a very small unit but plays a vital supportive role for the PNGDF and the Government.
This is reflected by the statistics of its operations and compliments from the civilian community.
Despite the shortage in manpower, aging stores and equipment, and technical training problems, the unit has continued fulfilling its disease prevention and health promotion role in PNG and the region.