Awareness on HIV and AIDS needs to go out to prevent more people from getting infected with HIV, says Margaret Marabe, a long-time advocate on HIV. Ms Marabe says there was a lot of awareness years ago, but this has drastically gone down. “Communities must do awareness so people can go for HIV test,’’ she says. “Churches can ask us to come and do awareness and conduct (counselling and HIV) tests”. She says many people, including school-aged children are getting infected with HIV, awareness needs to go out everywhere, including schools and villages or rural communities. She says those who are concerned that they have HIV must not be afraid to go for a HIV test because there is a treatment that can help prolong their lives. Ms Marabe has been on HIV treatment for 18 years now, but she was diagnosed with the virus earlier in 1997. This was when she was seriously ill and admitted at a hospital. Her condition was described as being in stage four. “I had a big sore (on my side) and I could not eat and speak,’’ she says. Through faith and care of her sister, she recovered. Then in 2004, she became one of the first HIV people to be put on treatment when antiretroviral therapy (ARV) was introduced at the Heduru clinic, Port Moresby. Her son was then small and she hoped that she would lived to see him grow up. Next month, she is joyfully expecting her first grand child from him. Ms Marabe says unlike before, there is no stigma and discrimination today. “There is no stigma and discrimination in HIV. What people have is ‘self-stigma’’. Currently, Ms Marabe is working in HIV counselling and testing with Hope Worldwide PNG. Ms Marabe was one of the 22 participants of the recent Provider Initiated Counselling and Testing (PICT) organised and run by the National Department of Health with support from the World Vision and Global Fund. It was held at Tuhava, 30 minute drive outside Port Moresby.

Vanuatu looks set to elect its first female politician in more than 10 years as results from the country's snap election roll in. Gloria Julia King is in the running to win one of eight rural seats in Efate, Vanuatu's main island. She says it would be a huge victory for female empowerment and she wants to inspire other women to follow her lead. "Being able to carry a female voice into parliament, let's all people in Vanuatu know that there is a female voice up there representing them," she said. Official results from last Thursday's vote are expected in the coming weeks. Source: ABC Pacific

Papua New Guinea’s potential final path to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ became clear last week following the draw for the qualifying Play-Off Tournament to be played in New Zealand in February 2023. Papua New Guinea have been drawn in Group C – alongside Chinese Taipei, Paraguay and Panama – following the draw at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday, October 14. Papua New Guinea will take on Panama in the Group C semi-finals at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on February 19. Chinese Taipei face Paraguay in the other semi-final clash at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton earlier the same day. The winners of those two fixtures will face each other in the final on February 23 in Hamilton – with the winners qualifying for next year’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Source: Oceania Football Confederation 

The BSP Financial Group’s Limited (BSP) Community partners and Australian professional rugby league club, the Brisbane Broncos Management and a few current players are in the country for few days visit as part of their community engagement drive with BSP. This partnership focuses on both parties working together in three key areas within the BSP operations; Education through Financial Literacy, SME and Leadership. Led by the Brisbane Broncos Club Chief Executive Officer, Dave Donaghy , Management Team and the former Queensland and Club Legend Scott Prince and three NRL Players Keenan Palasia, Delouise Hoeter and Ethan Quai –Ward were in country on Monday 17th October, 2022. Team started their visit on arrival to the Bomana War Cemetery. Yesterday (Tuesday 18th October 2022) the BSP staff at the Waigani Head office were privileged to have them show up to share few moments and take pictures and signed few autographs before visiting Gordons International School for the School Financial Literacy appointment. The visit to Gordons International School saw Brisbane Broncos promoting financial literacy and emphasising on the importance of saving by making appearances, meeting the students and presenting limited edition co-branded BSP and Brisbane Broncos merchandise. The Banks partnership with such reputable club is not only in rugby league but also in business and community programs, which is beneficial for both parties. Over the next few days, the team will visit few more BSP Branches, schools and sporting facilities to continue the partnership BSP has with community.

A six week combined security forces operation will begin soon in the National Capital District targeting hot spots and criminal activities, said acting Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)Special Operations Donald Yamasombi. Following the dissatisfaction expressed by the Prime Minister on the lawlessness in NCD, Commissioner of Police David Manning appointed Mr Yamasombi to support the Divisional Commander of NCD/Central, Mr Anthony Wagambie Jnr, in his crime fight strategies in the city. “In that regard I’ve done a supplementary operation order in relation to what the NCD Divisional Commander has already instituted on the ground,” says Mr Yamasombi. He said resources will be made available from his wing to fully support the NCD/Central Command. “We will be targeting known hotspots within the city,” said Mr Yamasombi. He said all suspects apprehended during this operation will be carefully profiled.  “We will get their fingerprints, photographs and full details of who they are. This should help us in the long run to keep tag of people who commit crimes in the city because a lot of times these are the same people who keep doing the same thing over and over but no proper tags were kept on them. People must now feel the full force of the law,” said Mr Yamasombi. The Specialist Operations Wing consist of the Special Services Division (SSD), Dog Unit, Water Police and the Police Band. Mr Yamasombi said all these directorates have sufficient manpower and they will be committed to this exercise. “The city has three zones, so each zone will be assigned a directorate and have them rotate the units from within these policing zones in the city after a week. The bandsmen will be divided between the three directorates to beef up numbers in this exercise. “This will also help us see what difference we can make in terms of the capabilities we have and so the resources these directorates have will be committed to the zone we place them in. “On the flip side, I will also be able to see the effectiveness of these Directorates. This will be a testing time for our men as well,” said Mr Yamasombi. He said Police will also be executing warrants so all offences will be specified in order to obtain warrant on all forms of offences. “Under the instructions already issued to the Crimes Division is to have prosecutors to apply to the magistrates in court upon successful conviction of suspects to have them repatriated back to their home provinces. “There is a provision under the District Courts Act for the magistrates to exercise so we will be invoking that to have people who are convicted in the city to be repatriated back to their home provinces,” says Mr Yamasombi. He said the PNG Defence Force and the Correctional Services have been put on notice and they will come on board in this operation as soon as the necessary legal instruments are signed.

Mate Ma'a Tonga have survived a scare from a committed PNG Kumuls outfit to come away with a 24-18 win at St Helens' Totally Wicked Stadium. In the game of the World Cup to date, the Tongans broke an 18-18 deadlock with three minutes to play courtesy of a miracle try to Rabbitohs star Kaeon Koloamatangi on his Test debut. Come the 35th minute it was Tonga taking the lead when interchange forward Moeaki Fotuaika finished off some great lead-up work by Tui Lolohea and Koloamatangi to dot down under the sticks. Dolphins-bound young gun Isaiya Katoa was next to score just 90 seconds later after Moses Suli surged into the back field and found the 18-year-old looming in support to take the score to 18-6 at the break. The Kumuls hit back immediately after half-time when Ipape left four defenders in his wake and found Lachlan Lam backing up for a sensational PNG try. A huge call in the 54th minute when the video referee ruled Kumuls winger Rodrick Tai had failed to ground the ball in the corner after watching several replays. Having entered the game from the bench in the 52nd minute, David Fifita made an impact when he powered his way over the line only to be denied by desperate defence from Lam, who managed to hold him up. A mistake by Koula at dummy half in the 68th minute gave the Kumuls a golden opportunity to grab their third try and Russell made amends for his earlier bombed try when he took the final pass from Alex Johnston to cross wide out. Source: NRL.com

Members of BTS, the K-pop supergroup, are planning to undertake military service, the band’s record label confirmed Monday, with Jin, the oldest member, aiming to start the process at the end of the month. Military service is mandatory in South Korea, where almost all able-bodied men are required to serve in the army for 18 months by the time they are 28 years old. South Korea’s parliament passed a bill in 2020 allowing pop stars – namely those who “excel in popular culture and art” – to defer their service until the age of 30. With Jin turning 30 this year, and the band’s announcement of a break in June from group musical activities to pursue solo projects, members are now making plans to serve. BTS is expected to reconvene as a group around 2025, according to BIGHIT Music. The record label said it has been looking at the timing of the band’s military service, “to respect the needs of the country and for these healthy young men,” and it said the time was “now.” “Group member Jin will initiate the process as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October. He will then follow the enlistment procedure of the Korean government,” the label said, adding: “Other members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans.” The country’s defense minister said in August that BTS might still be able to perform overseas while serving in the military, the Reuters news agency reported. Source: CNN

In the winter of 2019, a number of children living in India's Jammu region began falling sick with what many thought was a mysterious illness. The children, suffering from cough and cold, had been prescribed a cough syrup by local doctors. Instead of recovering, they fell seriously ill, vomiting, running high fever and kidneys shutting down. By the time the mystery was solved, 11 children, aged between two months and six years, had died. Tests found that three samples of the cough syrup, made by an Indian drug company called Digital Vision, contained diethylene glycol or DEG, an industrial solvent used in the making of paints, ink, brake fluids. Kidney failure is common after consuming this poisonous alcohol. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) put out a global warning over four India-made cough syrups thought to be linked to the deaths of 66 children in The Gambia. Lab analysis of the samples of a syrup made by a 32-year-old firm called Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited confirmed the presence of "unacceptable amounts" of diethylene glycol and another toxic alcohol called ethylene glycol. The tainted drugs and the tragic deaths again shone a spotlight on India's $42bn - half of the revenues come from exports - drug manufacturing industry. Some 3,000 firms operate 10,000 pharmaceutical factories making generics (copies of branded medicines that usually sell for a fraction of their price), over-the-counter medicines, vaccines and ingredients in what is one of the world's largest drug-making countries. Although India imports 70% of the active ingredient chemicals for its medicines from China, it is trying to make more of them at home. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed India as the "pharmacy of the world". India's traditional expertise in making generics has helped make it a formidable low-cost maker of drugs and become a global manufacturing base. Some 40% of over-the-counter and generic medicines sold in the US and a quarter of all medicines dispensed in the UK come from India. The country supplies some two-thirds of anti-retroviral drugs globally to fight HIV. Outside the USA, India has the most number of drug making plants - 800 - that are compliant with the US health and safety requirements. Yet such breathless growth - the industry has been running at a clip of over 9% every year for nearly a decade - has been clouded by allegations of problems of quality and weak regulation. Many believe that India has always battled a flood of counterfeit drugs, mostly sold in small towns and villages. But analysts say the physicians and patients are possibly conflating sub-standard drugs with what they think are fake medicines. State-run drug testing labs in many states are under-funded, short-staffed and poorly equipped. Regulatory oversight and enforcement is unsurprisingly spotty, analysts say. In 2014, India's top drug regulator famously told a newspaper: "If I follow US standards I will have to shut almost all drug facilities." More than 70 people, mostly children, have died in five separate mass poisoning incidents related to drugs spiked with DEG since 1972. In 2013, after a seven-year long investigation, top Indian drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories was ordered to pay a record $500m fine in the US, the biggest handed down to a generic drug maker for improper manufacturing, storing and testing of drugs. Official government records reveal that between 2007 and 2020, more than 7,500 drugs sampled in just three of India's 28 states and three union territories had failed quality tests and had been declared drugs "not of standard quality" or inferior, research by Dinesh Thakur, a former Indian drug executive-turned-public health expert, found. These drugs failed tests for not having enough of ingredient chemicals, impaired ability to dissolve in the patients' blood or were found to be contaminated. Each failed sample typically represents a batch of the medicine, which in turn could run into hundreds of thousands of tablets, capsules and injections. "The total number of patients affected by such inferior drugs possibly runs into hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions over the last decade," says Mr Thakur, co-author of The Truth Pill, a piercing look at drug regulation in India. Mr Thakur says he worries that many Indian firms are not following "good manufacturing practices" or GMP, a drug industry term to refer to testing for quality control. He believes that the DEG-related incidents had occurred at home - and now abroad - because some firms "quite often fail to test either the raw materials or the final formulation before shipping it to the market". "Given the sheer quality of drugs detected as "not of standard quality" over the last decade from the open market it is obvious that a large number of manufacturing facilities are completely flouting quality and process control procedures that form the core of 'good manufacturing practices'" says Mr Thakur. That's not all. Using right to information law, Mr Thakur found many of India's state-owned drug testing labs lacked key equipment. Drug sampling practices, he noted, date back to a colonial 1875 law where inspectors pick up a small number of random samples from the market. India has been debating a law to recall drugs that have been found to be inferior from the market since nearly half a century. "All it has are guidelines, which many state regulators seem to be unaware of. Have you ever heard of a drug recalled in India?" says Mr Thakur. It is difficult to understand the scale of the problem - many of India's drug factories are indeed world-class. Physicians say they largely trust India-made drugs. Dr Rahul Baxi, a Mumbai-based diabetologist, told me that only once in recent years he became suspicious about a drug when glucose levels of a patient shot up after he switched off from branded drug to a cheaper generic. But he suspects that there could be counterfeit or inferior drugs being sold in small towns and villages. "Many of my patients that come from far flung parts of India buy six months of prescribed drugs from pharmacies in the city because they say they don't trust drugs available in their areas," Dr Baxi said. After the deaths of the children in The Gambia, India claimed that its federal regulator was "robust" and sought more details from the WHO on the causality of the deaths with the exported cough syrup. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates medical products in the US, posts inspection status of firms supplying drugs to the US and warning letters. A spokesperson told me that its policies ensure that "companies - regardless of where the are located - meet the FDA's strict standards for producing medicines for US patients that are high quality, safe and effective". A pharmaceutical industry leader, insisting on anonymity, told me that "although some countries do have very rigid quality standards", India's drugs were completely safe. "We are not defending the mishaps," he said, "but these are aberrations". Mr Thakur says: "An aberration should only happen once. You can't play with people's lives".   Source: BBC 

Prime Minister James Marape says Papua New Guinea can learn so much from Israel, especially in the area of agriculture technology. He said this in Parliament on Friday (October 14, 2022) when answering a question from Morobe Governor,  Luther Wenge, on the possibility of PNG setting up an embassy in Israel and vice-versa in light of PNG being a Christian country. PM Marape said the idea of a PNG Embassy in Israel was first mooted by former prime minister Peter O’Neill during a visit to Israel in 2013. He said he had met Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, during the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York at which they discussed the possibility of visits to each other’s countries. The idea of embassies in both countries will follow on from these initial discussions between both leaders at the UNGA. “It is not only in religion that we can relate to Israel,” PM Marape said. “Israel is a knowledge-based economy which exports agriculture using hydroponics technology. “Israel has up to eight flights a week carrying out exports of vegetables and fruit, when it is half the size of Angoram District (in East Sepik). “We can learn much from them. “Having a bilateral relationship with them is not because of religious affinity, but more importantly, in the area of technology. “I look forward to our officials progressing what we political leaders discussed.”

France launched their World Cup campaign in style with a 34-12 win over competition newcomers Greece at Eco-Power Stadium. After failing to register a win at the last World Cup, a France side boasting more Super League experience than ever before, announced themselves as certified contenders on the world stage. In their first World Cup match, Greece were valiant in their defeat, with a runaway try in the 80th minute bringing the proud blue and white supporters to their feet in Doncaster on Tuesday. The World Cup debutants struggled to get out of their own half in the opening stages and an attempted 40-20 kick by Lachlan Ilias came up short, giving France prop Jordan Dezaria the platform to explode out of the line from close range and open the scoring in the eighth minute. Chasing the early lead, mistakes started to creep into Greece's game and a dangerous tackle on the line handed France playmaker Arthur Mourgue the opportunity to extend the lead 8-0 with a penalty goal. Come the 29th minute and France extended their lead when Mourgue produced a deft grubber for Toulouse half Tony Gigot to follow through and score. Ill discipline again proved costly for Greece when a Mitchell Zampetides late shot gifted France position and Benjamin Jullien capitalised with his fourth try in French colours. France went further ahead early in the second half when Mourgue crossed the line and converted his own try to bring the score 26-0 with 32 minutes to play. But it was the 55th minute that marked a moment of history for international rugby league. Greece halfback Jordan Meads produced a perfectly weighted grubber to the corner to find winger Siteni Taukami to score his country's first World Cup points. France was quick to end Greece's celebrations and once again showed their class, moving the ball quickly through hands when Julien crossed the stripe for his side's fifth try of the night. Greece continued to fight to the end and Nick Mougious grabbed a 79th minute runaway try to reduce the deficit 34-12 and bring the Greece fans to their feet in Doncaster. Source: NRL.com

The Pacific Community (SPC) is urging farming communities and travelers to help keep the region free of the animal health threat Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). The FMD campaign comes as a recent outbreak in Indonesia raised concerns about how quickly the disease spreads and the biosecurity risks posed to the Pacific. FMD is a severe and highly contagious animal disease that affects cloven foot animals such as cattle, deer, pigs, goats and sheep. It can be transboundary and can occur sporadically in any area currently free of the disease. The FMD campaign is funded by the European Union through the Safe Agricultural Trade Facilitation through Economic Integration (SAFE Pacific) project. The project is being implemented by SPC’s Land Resources Division across 15 countries including the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu SPC's Animal Health and Production Advisor Dr. Sripad Sosale said that although FMD has not been detected in the Pacific and poses no threat to human health, it is one of the greatest biosecurity threats to the region, and it is critical to remain vigilant. “FMD would devastate our region, as it significantly impacts the trade of animals and animal meat and could cripple the livestock industry. There is ongoing work to strengthen biosecurity measures in place to protect against animal health diseases, and the campaign can help reinforce these and build a collective sense of ownership to keep the Pacific FMD-free,” he said. Regional neighbours Australia and New Zealand have also stepped-up awareness efforts to combat FMD as it spreads across parts of Asia. Dr. Sosale said the team will be organising awareness materials and banners to be displayed at ports of entries e.g. wharf and airports and distributed across farming communities. The awareness materials include information on detecting FMD, the clinical signs in infected animals and steps to report the disease. The campaign was launched this month in the Solomon Islands. The awareness material for travellers outlines the simple dos and don’ts to prevent FMD, such as the requirement to truthfully declare all goods and items at airport checkpoints, especially things that could carry unwanted pests or diseases, and not to bring in prohibited items and animal products such as meat. Travellers must declare if they have been in direct contact with animals and livestock and practice good hygiene and thoroughly clean and disinfect all clothing and footwear used on farms or near animals. FMD poses a big threat to the livestock industry in the Pacific as it can cause serious economic and production loss as they are the most important domestic animals in the Pacific culture. The campaign stresses the overall message that it is essential to keep the Pacific region free from exotic diseases and ensure access to trade and export markets for the overall benefit of the livelihoods of the Pacific communities.

The Joint Security Forces have convened for the 2022 National General Security operation debrief to chart a way forward for better and improved security operations in future. Commissioner of Police David Manning together with the senior leadership of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, the PNG Defence Force, the PNG Correctional Services, the PNG Australia Policing Partnership and key stakeholders are attending the three-day conference which began today and ends on Thursday in Lae, Morobe Province. Also in attendance is Minister for Internal Security and Bougainville Regional Member Peter Tsiamalili Jnr and Secretary for the Department of Prime Minister and NEC, Mr Ivan Pomaleu. Commissioner Manning said in his opening remarks that debriefs, after any major operation, are a critical part of the security forces’ performance accountability process. “It allows for an opportunity to critically assess our respective force's capabilities and capacities to support or contribute to any major operation. In this case is the recently concluded 2022 national general election. “In my address to the men and women on parades leading up to the election security activities, I pointed out a fact that our biggest impediment to this was the limitations of our forces, both organisational and individual. The 2022 national general election has definitely exposed this fact. “For the RPNGC, it is very much indicative of our day-to-day performance, how we go about providing the required and expected level of leadership, command, performance accountability, adherence to processes, demonstrate strategic thinking and basically applying ourselves to the jobs we get paid to do, more importantly the positions you were appointed to. “In as far as the direction we are heading we will need to ensure we remain effective in what we do on a daily basis, to give us every chance to succeed in the 2027 national general election. “Whilst we are here to acknowledge our contributions to the 2022 national general election, we equally must acknowledge our shortcomings. “I have directed certain reforms that need to be initiated, focused on bettering ourselves in order to meet the expectations of our stakeholders. “This includes improving performance accountability, strengthening processes, ensuring an organisational mind set shift to ensure compliance and more effective service delivery at both the national and sub national levels. “As many of you are no doubt aware, our performance has been a point of discussion on the floor of Parliament recently. As your leader I ultimately will and have accepted the responsibility of these sentiments of dissatisfaction. I accept it of course with grave concern. “Simply put, what was argued on the floor of parliament is a “Call to Action’” of the Police Force by our national leaders…the RPNGC will respond to this call. “I will not delve into the critical gaps we are currently experiencing with due respect to our colleagues and counterparts from our sister forces, this will be subject to a separate forum. “We have commenced this process in Headquarters, and we remain committed to ensuring we secure the necessary support from our government, and of course our development and bilateral partners. We are not short of support,” Mr Manning said. Consistent with the theme of the de-brief conference, Mr Manning placed on record that if it was not for the security forces efforts, NATEL 22 would not have been concluded as it had been. However, Mr Manning is convinced that if the necessary steps are not taken now to address operational gaps and resolve them at least two years before the 2027 National General Election, the security forces will not be in a position to ensure the delivery of the electoral process. The Commissioner urged all partners to develop a single planning document that is not only understood by all but is able to be implemented across a multi-agency environment through multi-agency concurrent activities to deliver a shared desired and agreed outcome. He said this document sets out clear planning and operational and administrative guidelines that allow for effective use of assets and resources all the while enhancing effective collaboration. Mr Manning said the security forces will continue to be faced with limited resources, but this does not however diminish their responsibility to ensure their best efforts to support the electoral process. “We must continue to be innovative, establish and maintain relationships, and above all provide the strong leadership that is generally lacking in the public service,” Mr Manning said. In concluding his speech Mr Manning called for all participants to be engaged fully in the discussions over the next few days. He said there are many success stories to share both in the Administration and Operational space leading up to, during and post NATEL 22.