20/02/2025
🇵🇬 Health Nius 📌
By Dr. James Naipao
Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgeon
A Redflap. A frightening Redflap:
(Before you read this, share it)
On the 07th February 2025, I started work after taking my recreational leave.
On my first ward round, this is what I saw; 96% of the patients admitted under my specialty were cancer patients.
It is predicted that by 2043, cancer especially oral cavity, oropharynx and voice box cancers will be at the worst in Papua New Guinea. Other cancers especially cervical, breast, liver and bowel cancer will be at the worst too.
The main cause of this lifestyle changes. Exposure to betelnut, smoking, alcohol, poor hygiene, poor dieting practice, sexually transmitted disease that are common risk factors to cancers. Obesity and consuming simple sugars are risk factors to cancer too.
In the country now, children are exposed at an early age to these risk factors. People exposed to these, the daily volume consumption and exposure to the risk factors daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly increases the packed volume yearly and increases the change of getting cancer.
In the head and neck region, cancer in this region is presenting early now. We are seeing young adults who are 18 and 19 year olds presenting with cancers. When I started my training and as a service registrar, cancer was commonly seen at people in their 50s and 60, and those in their old age mostly.
Early those days, my colleagues and I would go out to Manu Autoport, Boroko and Taurama Foodland looking for a cancer in my region to operate, then we saw cancer patients coming to the clinic and most got treated irrespective of the staging. Then, the numbers started to increase. Right now, it is at the worst. The simple description is, "25 years ago, my specialty was looking for cancer patients to operate, then patients started coming in a Mr. Bean's car, then in a land cruiser, and then in a 15 seater bus. Ten years ago, they started coming in a 25 seater bus.
