KOKOPO Town Market has been declared as the first healthy marketplace and will be serving as model for all other markets in the country.
The declaration was made by the National Department of Health (NDoH) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) last Friday.
A large crowd turned up for the occasion with many describing the Kokopo Market as their pride.
The declaration was made in recognition of Kokopo Market meeting the requirements of a Healthy Market Place under the Healthy Island Concept and has come after 13 years of work.
This includes people adhering to market rules and regulations.
Kokopo Town Market has been set up after Kokopo town was elevated as a new administrative headquarter and provincial town for East New Britain following the twin volcanic eruptions in 1994 under the then Gazelle Restoration Authority.
Since 2010, it has been managed by the ENB Market Authority led by Chief Executive Officer Peter Lapmin.
This is also the only province in the country that has an authority that oversees markets in a province.
The authority raises its own income from the fees that it imposes and uses the money to run the market, including making sure it is clean and hygienic for people to use.
Mr Lapim who received the certificate of recognition of Kokopo Market as a model market on behalf of his team and the people of ENB, said they have plans to further develop the market.
“In the future, East New Britain Market Authority will raise the other provincial markets setting to be on part of Kokopo Market standard and also to provide a child mining centre, smoking and chewing buai haus wing, cool storage room and warehouse, ENBMA office complex on Stop N Shop complex and improve safety in all markets.”
Nola N’drewei, technical officer-environmental health, representing the WHO country representative Dr Sevil Huseynova and WHO officer-in-charge, Anna Maalsen, applauded the people of ENB and their leaders for the standards they are setting in markets for PNG to follow.
“Food markets are important to people’s livelihood, economy and trade as well as the environment.
“In order to protect public health and the safety of food markets, we are here today.’’
National Department of Health program manager for food safety and quarantine, Aaron Gwamatae, spoke on behalf of the Secretary of NDoH Dr Osborne Liko.
He thanked the development partners that contributed towards the implementation of the Healthy Island Concept which has formed the foundation for the Pacific Health Ministers Meetings for 30 years and served as a unifying theme for health protection and health promotion in the Pacific.
“Healthy Islands have played a significant role in energizing the approach to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by supporting a focus on the environments in which people are nurtured, work and play,’’ he said.
“Communities that adopt Healthy Islands Concept (HIC) learn to create a Health Committee; set goals for a range of different geographical settings such as healthy school, healthy village, healthy market, healthy family, draw up a five-year implementation plan; learn appropriate methods for progress monitoring and self-assessment; and adjust the implementation plan accordingly.
“Healthy markets are a typical setting where people live and work, and spend a certain amount of time in close proximity to each other on a regular basis.
“The health status of the population is determined as much, or more, by the conditions of such settings as these.
“Healthy Markets can make the environment supportive for health, not merely identifying hazards, but supporting and improving the settings in such a way that health is maintained and promoted.
“In many cities and towns, the marketplace is considered by most people to be its commercial and social centre and as such healthy marketplace offers the possibility of establishing linkages between development and health.”
Furthermore, he said the Health Department recognizes the important role Healthy Island Concept has played and can contribute to current health indicators and has included it as a significant policy direction in the National Health Plan 2020-2030.
“The Key Result Area 1 & 2 of the National Health Plan has now positioned Healthy Island Concept as the key strategy to drive the health promotion, prevention and protection programs across the country.”
He said monitoring and reporting of the Healthy Island settings progress and status had been the greatest challenge therefore the department will be identifying Healthy Island Indicators and developing Monitoring and Evaluations mechanism for implementations.
“Health is also a shared responsibility which requires working together on issues that affect us all nationally and locally.
“Collaboration is therefore essential across all sectors within communities, businesses, government’s agencies, to ensure the requirements of a healthy markets is sustainable now and in the future.
“Marketplace must first have an organization structure which allows for basic controls to be implemented, particularly as they relate to safety requirements for specific foods being offered for sale and handling practices associated with them.
“Municipal health authorities, therefore, have an important position in that structure.’’
Dr Liko congratulated the Governor of East New Britain Michael Marum, Member for Kokopo Jelta Wong, CEO of ENBPHA, Kokopo Mayor and the Kokopo Town Manager for achieving this very important milestone.
“Kokopo Town’s efforts and experiences in achieving a Healthy Market Status will provide a significant learning experience for other PHAs to learn from.
