Businesses for Health (B4H) is joining forces with the PNG Cancer Foundation to encourage people who want to end their chewing habit to sign up for the “World No Buai Day” campaign to be held on the 6th of October 2023.
B4H and the Cancer Foundation will kick off the campaign on the 4th of August to get the workers of PNG to consider the career, health and financial costs of chewing buai.
The campaign is set to run for over 8 weeks. Although the mission of B4H is to end TB, chewing buai has a negative effect on so many aspects of a person’s health and well-being, especially spreading infectious diseases and facial cancers.
The team understands that chewing is part of many people’s usual routines, so planning is required if people are going to be successful in reducing their dependency on PNG’s favorite addictive drug – betel nut! B4H Campaign leader and participant TB HEO Teresa said, “The sooner people reduce their chewing, the better it is for their health.”
“We also recognize that chewing is an addiction and it’s not something they can successfully achieve without talking to family, friends, and colleagues.”
“Addicts need encouragement or friends to join them in the campaign.”
“To reduce buai chewing, they need to be surrounded by people who recognize that chewing is associated with so many threats to long-term health and well-being.”
“In supporting people with TB or HIV we use care, kindness, and support to help people to achieve better treatment compliance, and it reduces fear.”
“We recommending people wanting to quit chewing use the same strategies.”
Meanwhile, the PNG Cancer Foundation Executive Manager Ms. Kimberly Kapigeno said, under the ‘Hope for a Healthier PNG’ campaign, the PNG Cancer Foundation is supporting B4H’s ‘No Buai Campaign’.
The initiative is in line with the key message of making healthy lifestyle choices to reduce one’s cancer risk. The PNG Cancer Foundation also highlighted a recent finding by Port Moresby General Hospital Head & Neck surgeon Dr James Naipao, which stated 50% of the new mouth cancer cases are Highlanders – giving his best advice, he added to reduce the volume, frequency, and interval of chewing.
“PNG Cancer Foundation believes that the No Buai on Workdays is a practical healthy lifestyle challenge that encourages participants to gradually reduce their chewing habit over a period of 8 weeks.”
“This can potentially be incorporated into the foundation’s current awareness campaigns.”
“We commend B4H for the great work they do in the awareness space, especially with TB and HIV.”
Furthermore, B4H Project Manager Dr. Ann Clark said, the campaign specifically aims to quit workweek chewing. “We are not advocating for a global lifetime buai ban.”
“It would be disrespectful and foolish to expect people not to chew at a haus krai or other events at which chewing maybe an ancient tradition.”
“We want people to learn to better manage their habit and to be successful.”
“We recommend registering with the B4H campaign to get reminders and encouragement along the way to NOT chewing in the working week by World No Buai Day.”