Dr Kitur a big bonus to health department

DOCTOR Urarang Kitur is happy to share the skills and training he has on health planning and policy, data quality and data analysis.
Dr Kitur, 50, from Toma in East New Britain recently completed a Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in Epidemiology from the University of Melbourne’s School of Population Health.
He completed the doctorate after his paper titled “Mortality patterns in Papua New Guinea” was approved by the examining committee.
The committee includes renowned epidemiologist and public health guru Professor Alan Lopez who had been his supervisor during his four years of study and research.
In an email from the University of Melbourne, Dr Lopez believes that Dr Kitur’s achievement will benefit health planning and policy in PNG in way of expertise and training in the latest methods and thinking about data analysis and data quality.
“It is very important that those in PNG responsible for improving population health take full advantage of the training and acquired skills to better target health interventions and policies.
“Obtaining his PhD at the top School of Public/Population Health in the Southern Hemisphere is a great personal achievement, one that he, his family and his country should be justifiably proud of.”
Dr Kitur lives with his family at the Malolo Estate in Port Moresby.

“ (It) is a subject that I enjoyed and that is where I wanted to contribute towards knowledge in PNG, an area that is not well developed and not fully understood.”

He welcomed the news of his achievement, saying it is a big relief to him.
He thanks God for his guidance, his family members for their support, the Health Department and the Australian government for their help.
Epidemiology has always been his passion. Epidemiology is defined as the study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency, pattern) and determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events (not just diseases) in specified populations (neighborhood, school, city, state, country and global).
In the same period (2016 to 2020), Dr Kitur also published three papers while doing his PhD studies.
“(It) is a subject that I enjoyed and that is where I wanted to contribute towards knowledge in PNG, an area that is not well developed and not fully understood.”
Dr Kitur also has a Master’s degree from the Australian National University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy.
He has over 20 years of experience in the health sector since graduating from the University of PNG medical school in 1996.
He worked in hospitals, lectured at the UPNG School of Medicine and Health Sciences before he was offered a job in the Health Department where he is currently working.
A great achievement indeed for a son of ENB, to greatly benefit our national health sector.

• Picture and story supplied