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.
The Leprosy Mission New Zealand has a long-term partnership with the NZ Government (New Zealand Aid Programme), the Autonomous Bougainville Government and other rehabilitation agencies in Bougainville in detecting leprosy and improving health practices in rural communities.
The Bougainville Healthy Communities Programme (BHCP) is designed to encourage a community-based and owned primary health system.
This project strengthens preventative health through health awareness including water, sanitation and hygiene, identification of leprosy and major illnesses with referral pathways and treatment, immunisation and maternal health. Developing a community of people with a stronger immune system means less vulnerability to leprosy bacteria.
The model has a holistic and integrated view of a healthy community, being about health awareness and care as well as effective community-level governance to identify, plan for, and implement, health and development strategies.
The programme has been successfully implementing a preventative health model, working with its trained health volunteers and leaders in the communities, also, focussing 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.