Abstract

Children under five years of age living in Enga Province of Papua New Guinea are being seriously affected by diarrhoeal diseases. This project will develop and test a set of prototype health communication materials and strategies, which are aimed at improving the sanitary behaviour of the mothers of the affected children. Members of the Yanarin Tribe will participate in this project. The first activity will involve the conduct of a knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey at the project site. This will lead to the formulation of key messages and the design of prototype communication materials and strategies. The next step will involve the pretesting of the prototype materials and communication strategies in a series of health promotion campaigns conducted amongst individual clans of the tribe. Finally the KAP survey will be repeated to gauge the effectiveness of the materials and strategies. The communication strategies and prototype materials will be used in health education campaigns across Wabag District if they are found to be effective. To ensure the quality of research, three key project staff will receive training.

Post-Project Summary

The project attempted to develop communication strategies that employed the traditional system in sending out messages and receiving feedback. Local communities were willing participants in trying to disseminate health information. Regular meetings were held for community leaders; health education was carried out; health communication material was in the process of being prepared for dissemination; Radio Enga agreed to give the project airtime for the broadcast of health programs; and the script of an IDRC film "Prescription for Health " was translated into Pidgin. However, the project did not meet its objectives. Progress was initially achieved after long delays, but political upheavals, tribal warfare, and a fire contributed to project failure. Research materials were lost in a fire and there was no final report. The training objective was achieved, however, thus strengthening the research and communication capacities of the Department of Enga.

Recipient Institution(s)