The Family Health and Rural Improvement Program (FHRIP) grew out of 25 years of research activity in Tari. Between 1995 and 2000 FHRIP assisted over 300 families in 20 communities in Tari to acquire a water supply, sanitation, nutritional gardens and small livestock, and provided health education. The program demonstrated that with appropriate assistance local people could improve their health and start small projects that promise real development in their communities. The extension of this experience is occurring under Community-Based Health Care in several highlands provinces. However, FHRIP had to overcome many internal and external obstacles, and more commitment from the public sector, together with long-term assistance from aid agencies, is required if such initiatives are to grow and flourish.
Health ; Family ; Family Health Company ; experience ; development aspects

This paper reports on the results of a questionnaire on antenatal utilization, family planning and fertility preferences carried out on 2560 women in Tari in 1998. There is a very high level of utilization of antenatal and delivery services. There is also a broad knowledge of family planning methods, but very low uptake of these services. Part of the reason for this lies in high fertility preferences among women in Tari, part in a lack of confidence regarding the methods, and part in male opposition to their use. Comparison with elsewhere in Papua New Guinea confirms that health service utilization and fertility preferences are high, and family planning uptake is low in Tari. The decline in health services and the collapse of law and order in Tari bodes ill for the future of a family planning program in a district in which the need for such services is rising, due to the effects of population pressure on the environment.
Family Planning ; Preferences ; seconds ; utilization ; Fertility

A social and economic survey was conducted in 1984 to assess the impact of development at Tari and to supplement the demographic data being collected by the Tari Research Unit. Of 1604 adults aged 17 years and over selected from the demographic database, 1389 were interviewed and information was collected on the remainder from informants. The survey reveals an uneven pattern of change, with men living close to the town most advantaged in terms of education, employment, diet and possessions, and women in remote areas the least advantaged. There was, however, some evidence that peripheral parts of Tari were catching up with those in the centre. Observations since 1984, and some data collected in 1998, suggest that law and order problems and the decline in government services have led to a stagnation in social progress at Tari. This is despite considerable expansion of the district economy due to payments and remittances from resource projects operating in and around Tari. Women's educational status has nonetheless improved to some extent. Better governance and the restoration of services are required if the socioeconomic status of Tari people is to improve.
seconds ; g <3> ; SOCIAL ; Surveys ; educational

Health ; Environment