Health in the early contact period: A contemporary example from Papua New Guinea

Abstract

In 1984 a rare opportunity arose to document the effects of contact on a previously isolated population in Papua New Guinea. The Hagahai, a small group of hunter-horticulturalists, remained hidden from government and mission influence until the early 1980s. Prior to that time, indirect contact through trade with neighboring peoples facilitated the entry of introduced infectious diseases. In late 1983 the Hagahai sought medical aid at a mission station, an event which accelerated their contact with the common epidemic diseases of the highlands. A wide variety of genetic, linguistic, ethnographic and medical data have been collected which document the historical sequence of events contributing to the current rapid demographic decline among the Hagahai. Serological evidence demonstrates the endemicity of Bancroftian filariasis, malaria, C. diphtheriae, cytomegalovirus, HTLV-1, the Ross River arbovirus and several viruses associated with the common cold. Recent epidemics include mumps, influenza A, and hepatitis B. They have not yet been affected by TB or measles, among others. Infanticide contributes to an estimated infant mortality rate of 568/1000. With a crude birth rate of 38 and a crude mortality rate of 51, the Hagahai appear to be dying out. The provision of adequate health care to these people is extremely problematic and beyond the capacity of the existing system.