In this episode we talk to Dr Leanne Robinson and Dr Moses Laman and discuss the emergence of drug resistant malaria in PNG, and the work they are involved in through the STRIVE PNG project; a project that builds on decades of close working ties between PNG and Australian scientists, and an initiative that the Indo Pacific Centre for Health Security is proud to have helped establish.
Leanne is one of Australia's leading vector borne disease researchers. She is the head of the Vector Borne Disease and Tropical Public Health Group at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne. She has spent 10 years living and working in PNG. In parallel to her groundbreaking research, Leanne is committed to developing national capacity to conduct research across the countries of the Indo Pacific.
Moses is a principal Research Fellow, and the current head of the Vector Borne Disease Unit at the Papua New Guinea Institute for Medical Research. He is a young affiliate of the Third World Academy of Science, a general paediatrician and adjunct senior research fellow at the School of Medicine and pharmacology at the University of Western Australia.
In the past 10 days, the total number of COVID-19 cases in PNG has risen past 60. As the country works to contain the outbreak. The PNG government is assessing the situation and alongside the WHO, the Australian Government and other development partners, is bolstering emergency response efforts. This interview was recorded before the current increasing COVID-19 cases in PNG. It shows how strong relationships have been built between Australian institutions and the PNG government to anticipate and arrest infectious diseases within the country.