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Bougainville Healthy Communities Programme
The Bougainville Healthy Communities Programme (BHCP) has a long-standing presence in Bougainville, implemented in Bougainville since 1999, reaching over 800 village communities and covering 95% of the population.
Partnering with the NZ Government (New Zealand Aid Programme), the project is helping to establish healthcare programmes in local communities so that families can take responsibility for their health and well-being.
It strengthens preventative health which is cost-effective as it reduces the need for curative health, which helps reduce the burden on the under-resourced health system in Bougainville.
The highly successful BHCP model creates a stronger local voice and agency to act on health issues as a community and with local government and health facilities.
It has a holistic, integrated view of a healthy community; focusing on health awareness and care as well as effective community-level governance to identify, plan for, and implement health and development strategies.
"Leprosy is still an issue in Bougainville and it is very important that communities are aware of its causes and consequences", says Jasleen Kler, International Programmes Manager of Leprosy Mission New Zealand.
"Through the community health programme, we are educating families about the signs and symptoms of the disease, and making sure they know where to go to get treatment and support."
District facilitators regularly travel to remote villages where they train and monitor village health volunteers, who are responsible for providing health education in their communities.
Volunteers raise awareness about diseases such as leprosy and malaria, identify villagers who are ill, and refer people to district health clinics for diagnosis and treatment.
Since the project began, more than 2,500 village health volunteers and 2,100 village leaders have received training on community health development, leadership and governance.
Working with trained health volunteers and leaders in the communities, BHCP has been successfully implementing a preventative health model, which focusing on empowering Ward Governments in their delivery of health outcomes.
This has been achieved through a long-standing partnership with the Bougainville Department of Health and the Department of Community Government.
Through the implementation of the Preventative Health model, the programme aims to grow, and strengthen, healthy, inclusive, and sustainable communities in Bougainville.
BHCP has made a significant impact in health and leadership governance sectors in recent years. The Bougainville Healthy Communities Programme is very well-known and valued throughout Bougainville.
"Most proud – people concerned about their health, village beautification, the mindset change….. I heard some people comment on how there was a lack of mosquitoes. This project is bringing people up to a higher standard of living. I feel involved, the project encourages participation. I have learnt and built up my capacity," says Lilian, District Facilitators in Bougainville.
The impact of the project is expected to grow, the changes in community behaviours will continue to bed in, and the project activities in each village will continue to develop, as has already been happening in many villages.
