Staff end training

FIFTEEN health officers from the United Church health services on Bougainville have completed two weeks of HIV/AIDS training in provider-initiated counseling and testing.
The training is part of the church’s response to implement the National HIV/AIDS strategy provide services to everyone in the country.
Roman Pembi, HIV/AIDS programme coordinator for the United Church, since 2012 the church was excluded from funding by the National AIDS Council. But despites its exclusion, the church still carried out HIV/AIDS programmes particularly in advocacy and setting up counseling and testing sites.
“From 2010 to 2014, the United Church conducted eight trainings in PNG and trained 102 health officers to carry out the service,” he said.
He said the church was using health officials with provider-initiated counseling and testing skills to take the HIV Counseling and Care Services into rural areas where the health facilities were established.
Fifteen nurses from rural health facilities attended the six-day training on Buka Island. The officers included two nursing officers and 13 community health workers.