Health Managers must work with the Media to improve health information

Health Managers can play a huge role in how people respond to public health issues in the media
This was the message from Ms. Rosalyn Albaniel Evara who is the Bureau Chief for the Madang Branch of the Post Courier when she talked to the Health Management Year four students.
Mrs. Evara said that many times people who are in charge of public health the provinces such as health managers and administrators have a role to play when it comes to relaying the correct information to people through the media.
She said: “Why is there now a resurgence of leprosy cases? We thought that we had done away with this disease but now it is creeping back into our society. Why is it that now we are seeing cases of deformi­ties presenting in our hospitals that our doctors are alarmed at?
“The reasons as to why such diseases and health problems are coming back must be researched and its findings presented to the media so that people are aware of this public health issue.
“ The media and health managers must work together to inform the public about what is happening in our communities.

Rosalyn talking to the Helath Management Year four students.

Mrs. Evara, as part of her talk, outlined many aspects of the newspaper industry that she worked on.
She said that the most fulfilling part of her work was when she writes stories about health and because of the stories are high­lighted in the papers, help is immediate and forthcoming to those in need.
“I don’t have a vehicle to do my job. I travel by bus or on foot to court houses, tertiary institutions, police stations, companies, provincial governments and many other places to get news. The pay isn’t so good and the hours are long but I do it because I have a passion for this country. I want to write about things that change peoples lives for the better. If I can write a story and a mother in a remote Josephstal can have water piped to her village, that, for me, is the pinnacle of helping Papua New Guinea move forward.
Her session with the HM year four students is part of the ‘HM 403 Work­ing with the Media’ course to learn more about how newspaper in the country operate.

Media matters

I was really happy this week becasue I had some very important people come talk to my students about the media in PNG.

My students, who are in the final year of their program, have a unit called "Working with the Media' and were most fortunate to hear from public affairs officers from Oil Search Limited and the Mineral Resource Authority.
The speakers—Ms. Ruth Waram and Ms. Celestine Ove from Oil Search Limited and Mr. Kenneth Avira from Mineral Resource Authority, talked about their respective organizations and their roles in these organizations especially on how they dealt with the mass media.

Even though they had come to attend the the 27th Australia-Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo held here on campus, they took time out to come talk to the students.
The students said they were pleased to hear from people who worked in the media industry and their experiences of dealing with journalists and the different media organisations in the country. Mr Avira and Ms Waram both worked for The National and Post Courier respectively before they joined their current organizations.

Pictures above show Mr. Avira (seated), Ms. Waram speaking to students while Ms. Ove (right) taking some pictures.