Documentary episode on Covid-19 launched

National

By LULU MARK
THE second episode of the documentary “Life in the ward” titled “The roll out” which highlights the concerns surrounding the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination in Papua New Guinea was launched last week.
“Life in the ward” is a series of documentaries that focus on some of the most pressing medical issues in PNG and is supported by the Paradise Private Hospital (PPH) and produced by Film-BRO, an audiovisual production company.
PPH co-owner Janet Sios said the first episode was on family planning where the importance of family planning and the issues surrounding it.
“Episode two is about creating more awareness on the Covid-19 vaccination,” she said.
“When the vaccines were made available, initially, PPH was one of the organisations that had access to it but on the day of vaccination, only 50 per cent of the staff showed up.
“The rest chose not to be vaccinated so we had talk about it to learn about what was holding them back and create more awareness on the importance of the vaccination.”
Sios highlighted that misinformation had contributed to the vaccine hesitancy in the community and among health workers as well.
She said the pandemic had impacted lives and affected the country’s economy and it was important that everyone worked together to address and fight the Covid-19 and PPH, which was a nationally-owned hospital, supported the documentary series to get the message out.
Episode two is now showing at the Paradise Cinema and the series will be distributed by TVWAN in PNG and in 14 other countries around the Pacific.
Sios said there were three more episodes to make and one would include rural health. She said the project was an opportunity to discuss important health issues in the country.