Papua New Guinea needs law and order above all

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7381.165/b

BMJ 2003;326:165 ( 18 January )

Letters

Papua New Guinea needs law and order above all

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ The article by Swartz and Dick on managing chronic disease in less developed countries is timely and important.¹Papua New Guinea is in the middle of the disease transition. Itstill has a major burden of acute infectious diseases $---$ malaria,tuberculosis, measles, pneumonia $---$ and ever increasing rates ofdiabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. The AIDS figuresand deaths are risingremorselessly.

In Port Moresby, the capital city, the poor live in large unsanitary settlements. Little community caring is being done becausepeople have migrated from all over the island, far from the villagecommunities and relatives (wantoks), the extended family thatwas the backbone of care in the past. The settlements have limitedsanitation, few houses have inside water or lavatories, electricityis unusual, and violence isrife.

Health professionals are not prepared to go into the settlements to provide a home nursing or palliative care . . . [Full text of this article]