Sir Peter Barter visits IMR | Minister launches broadband | PNGIMR delegation visit NARI | Directors directions | EPO project update | Update on PCV project | IMR Goroka get training on DMSys | Staff attend workshop in Malasia | New Staff | Students complete honours | This quater in picture | Gone for studies | Five staff graduate from DWU | Social Research Cadetship program | Malawi HIV/AIDS delegation visit Goroka | Message of Hib vaccie to PNG | Don Lewis revisits PNGIMR | Information for health workers for Hib vaccine | Dual visit Professor M J Cardosa's lab | Michael Alpers library news | IMR women celebrate IWD

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Don Lewis revisits PNGIMR

Don Lewis was a former employee of PNGIMR who joined the Institute in 1989 as a Computer/IT Manager after leaving the University of Technology in Morobe province where he was then a Computer lecturer. He spent four years at PNGIMR and one of the major projects he did was setting up computer networks in PNGIMR study sites in Tari, Yagaum and Maprik. This was a new direction for the institute’s data and statistics management system as it saw the old computers being replaced with the PC. Don had worked in Papua New Guinea for twelve years before he returned to his home country, Australia. Now Don is back in PNG after the IT consultant firm he works for in Brisbane, Australia won a two years tender to do a National Review for Information Systems for the Health Department in Port Moresby. His work now has brought him back to Eastern Highlands Province and to the PNGIMR. During his two day visit to health facilities in the Province, IMR Nius found time to talk to him about his visit to the province and the PNGIMR.

IMRN: Can you tell us about your visit to Eastern Highlands Province and PNGIMR?

Well first of all I work for a Consultant Firm in Brisbane Australia and just recently we won a two years tender to do a National Review of Information Systems for the Health Department in Port Moresby.

The Information Systems that is currently in place at the Health Department has been there for nearly fifteen years.

This Information System takes in reports from main hospitals in PNG, all district hospitals, all Health Centres and all sub health centres in the country and captures them into big computer systems, which then produces and prints out reports for the Health Department and various donor partners.

We will now include Human Resource Information and Financial Information to give the managers and finance people a better view of what’s happening in the PNG health system.

I’ll be in the country for two months to do a scope to look into replacing or upgrading the current system by including a wider range of Information Management for planning purposes.

I spent the last two weeks talking to senior managers of hospitals in Port Moresby and now I’m spending another two weeks going around various provinces.

I’ve been around the Central province and I’ll be in the Eastern Highland Province for two days visiting the EHP Provincial Health Office, Provincial Health Information office, Goroka Base Hospital, senior managers of Goroka Base Hospital, Medical Records people, and outer Health Centres in Asaro, and Watabung. This is to look at how they collect information and how it is being reported and used.

I have come to PNGIMR to talk to the director Professor Peter Siba about PNGIMR’s relationship and information sharing with the National Health Department and also to meet up with old friends as I haven’t been here for nearly eight years now.

(I did come back to PNGIMR in 1999 for four weeks to do a review on the computer systems before the year 2000, to avoid possible problems. This was when Michael Alpers was the director of the Institute).

With respect to the Information Technology part of it, I am interested in what the PNGIMR standards are.

The fact that PNGIMR is still using Fox Pro is very interesting because the current national system is using Fox Pro and I was wondering whether the PNGIMR moved on to using other programs, and if it did, what has it moved on to?

Because the important thing is that what ever is developed in PNG has to be supportable in the country.

If the PNGIMR has adopted a new standard then I am interested to know what PNGIMR is using.

I would also like to know what developments have been happening in PNGIMR because that would influence my recommendations at the national level and I would like to be able to talk about the general information sharing and the work contracted surveys the PNGIMR does for the National Health Department.

Compatible systems are less important because the PNGIMR’s got quiet a different role.

PNGIMR’s doing clinical trials and specialist studies, on the other hand the Health Department has systems that are very routing that crank into the same data over and over again every month.

But if the PNGIMR adopted new standards for IT development that would be interesting. Part of my job now is to visit West New Britain and Madang and I’ll be in Port Moresby for three to four weeks before I head back to Australia.