December 2023 Update
Happy holidays to our faithful supporters!
As 2023 comes to a close, we are very thankful for your interest and generosity throughout the past year. Since our last report in September, our team has been quite active, traveling to Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Kiribati. We were encouraged by the status of our ongoing projects and enthusiastic about the prospect of new programs.
In October our team visited Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. This trip was packed with meetings with governmental officials, representatives from WHO, and the medical staff at Port Moresby General Hospital. Agreements were reached to initiate a general hepatitis B program at the hospital and a collaborative project with the obstetrics department to treat pregnant women infected with hepatitis B. The latter program is of particular significance since it will reduce the number of infants born with hepatitis B. Hepatitis B Free will use your donations to provide the diagnostic kits and treatment needed to jumpstart these initiatives. In addition, an opportunity has emerged on the island of New Britain (one of the provinces of Papua New Guinea). Physicians at a mission hospital near Rabaul are keen to start treating their patients infected with hepatitis B. We are excited about the possibility of reaching this area where treatment has not been previously available.
Later in October a team visited our project in the Kingdom of Tonga. We were relieved to see that the main island has largely recovered from the offshore volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami. We were also quite pleased to see how well the hepatitis program, that commenced during our last visit in 2020, had fared during the COVID pandemic. The government is providing excellent support for the program, patients have been diagnosed, referred for evaluation, and placed on treatment when appropriate. We brought imaging equipment for specialized liver evaluations, saw patients, met with government officials, and provided staff training. This was a very encouraging and productive trip.
Two members from our team spent two weeks in Kiribati in December. This trip was dedicated to needs assessments, providing support for hepatitis clinics, and coordinating with governmental officials and other organizations working on the islands. We are looking forward to partnering with a consortium that will help manage tuberculosis, leprosy, scabies and hepatitis B on the islands. Each of these represents a major health problem. This partnership will allow us to provide more comprehensive screening of the population and improved linkage to care.
The coming year will be another busy one with trips to established sites as discussed above and others such as Madagascar. We wish each of you a very happy holiday season and a prosperous 2024. Thank you again for your generous support and gifts.
With gratitude,
David Hilmers
Chief Medical Officer
