Finding the best methods to catch mosquitoes and keep them alive is all in a day’s work for the Australian Defence Force Malaria and Infectious Disease Institute (ADFMIDI) team working with their defence health colleagues in Papua New Guinea.

Exercise No Sik Soljia (Pidgin English, meaning ‘no sick soldier’) involved teams comprising ADF, Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF), United States and New Zealand Defence Force personnel conducting concurrent surveys 500km apart.

In Wewak, a team collected mosquitoes and used them to determine what diseases the local mosquito population was carrying. This helped provide defence and civilian agencies with up-to-date information on health threats, allowing them to implement better-targeted control programs.

The team also investigated different ways to treat PNGDF uniforms to protect local personnel from mosquito-borne diseases when they deploy into the field.

Commanding Officer ADFMIDI Lieutenant Colonel Brady McPherson said Exercise No Sik Soljia was their most important international engagement for malaria research.

“This activity offers a unique opportunity for the ADF and PNG Defence Force to learn from each other and work together to solve shared problems,” Lieutenant Colonel McPherson said.

“This program has undoubtedly given us a better understanding of the risk infectious diseases pose and has enhanced both militaries' ability to mitigate against them.

“In addition to the valuable information it provides for both forces, the research also generates important insights in the management of infectious diseases (e.g. diagnostic failures and drug resistance), which is used to inform management guidelines for both militaries.

“What we are proudest of at ADFMIDI is the individual friendships that have been made over the past seven years and the enduring partnership that has been forged as a result of our engagement with the PNG Defence Force.”

Across at Igam Barracks in Lae, the second largest city in PNG, the research team investigated the prevalence of vector-borne diseases (e.g. malaria, dengue fever, rickettsia infections) and the risk that lifestyle diseases (e.g. diabetes and heart disease) pose in the Lae defence community. 

Over the three-week survey, the team enrolled 179 PNGDF members and 699 PNGDF family members.

“The team generates same-day results for time-critical conditions like malaria, which it provides to the Igam Barracks Medical Centre daily, together with important treatment medications,” Lieutenant Colonel McPherson said. 

ADFMIDI is a world-recognised centre for malaria research and is part of Joint Health Command.