MVIL staff attending the Health Talk on Cancer Awareness at PIH.

As other corporate entities, MVIL staff have been urged to help raise awareness on cancer as part of the company’s social responsibility and community obligation. This plea was made during the Health Talk on Cancer Awareness on 11 July 2024 at the Pacific International Hospital (PIH).

PIH Oncologist Dr Suresh Raghunath said a lot of cancer cases have been identified in Papua New Guinea, indicating the rapid spread of the disease, however, people are not aware of this.

He said part of PIH’s social obligation was to increase awareness on cancer to the corporate agencies as it comprises of elites who would understand facts about the disease and help spread the information to others, including their families.

Dr Raghunath further said that without proper cancer testing, diagnosis and treatment, coupled with people’s limited access to and knowledge of the disease were some of the reasons why cancer is increasing in PNG.

There are many forms of cancer with the most common affecting Papua New Guineans are breast, cervical, lung and mouth cancer, Dr Raghunath explained. Through awareness the populace can be able to identify cancer signs and symptoms and seek treatment early.  

Most cancers are assigned four stages from the less serious case to four being the advanced stage. He pointed out that sadly people came for testing and treatment in the last stage, which is when the cancer had spread to other parts of the body.

“Cancer is hereditary and most times it develops from bad lifestyle choices such as alcohol, smoking, betelnut chewing, food choices, lack of exercise, hormonal medicine and other contributing factors,” Dr Raghunath added.

MVIL’s Employee Relations and Training Team Lead Mr Lusan Imbuni said this was an excellent opportunity to get insightful knowledge about cancer development, its causes and associated risks factors, and acknowledged PIH for this initiative. 

Other companies that have participated in the Cancer Health Talk include PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority (ICA), Nasfund, MRDC and Bank South Pacific (BSP).