City Pharmacy Limited (CPL) has donated five boxes of different medical kits to the Human Right Defenders (HRD) of Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation to support the Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV) in the Highlands and Morobe Province.
The medical kits consist of gloves, iodine, bandages, antiseptic wipes, compression dressing, self-care ointment, and painkillers that will be used to attend to SARV victims.
Senisim Pasin National Coordinator, Marjorie Finkeo, said that when their HRDs go out to attend to victims with the support of police into the rural areas, they will take first aid kits with them to help the victims, who are especially women, girls, and children.
“These medical kits that we have received today will be going up to the Highlands, where our operational hub is based in Jiwaka Province, where we have our safe house as well,” Ms Finkeo said.
The medical kits will be used in Chimbu, Western Highlands, Goroka, and Lae to treat victims before they go to main hospitals for proper treatments.
Ms Finkeo said that the Senisim Pasin Program has a total of 53 active cases of SARV that are registered under Tribal Foundation, with a total of 630 victims that they are taking care of.
“With the basic challenges that our HRDs face, as well as the victims on the ground, to access basic health services, these kits will really help,” she said.
“One of the three models that Tribal Foundation uses in addressing SARV is: rescue the victims, provide legal support, and help police with logistics (as police face challenges in the communities).”
Ms Finkeo said that the HRDs work with police to go to where the incident happens and do direct rescue: once the police process the victims, the SARV victims go under Tribal Foundation’s care.
“We would like to thank CPL Foundation for their commitment and the partnership with PNG Tribal Foundation, and we look forward to working with them in the future,” Ms Finkeo said.