Department of Health to Meet Community Development in the Semis

The National Department of Health (NDoH) survived the division 6 quarterfinals of the Public Servants Netball Association (PSNA) last weekend (February 15th), smashing the PNG Customs with a 21-7 win to secure a spot in the semi-finals.  

Heading to the semi-final with a winning momentum, the NDoH women are fired up to face the Community Development today (Saturday, February 22nd), at Rita Flynn courts. 

The Health team struggled in the first round with a marginal loss to the younger Hiri Koiari team, but turned the tables around in round 2, taking two games on forfeit and edging the once third-placed PNG Customs, earning their place in the semi-finals.

The energized and rejuvenated Health ladies are determined to defeat the Community Development side to secure a spot in the grand finals next weekend against the much-favored Hiri Koiari women.

Health team’s coach and former PNG Pepe’s player, Kilala Owen, has high expectations of the ladies, saying her side has the upper hand this time around as team composure has improved over the weeks with a good defensive player combination and a leveled strong midcourt, while key shooter and captain, Iakuna Moide is expected to convert every ball for a win.

Team captain Iakuna Moide said though they had faced some challenges during the training preparations, the team is focused and looking forward to today’s do-or-die clash against the Community Development team.

“Our preparation leading up to the game day, in terms of attendance to training, has been challenging as most players travel during the weekdays,” Moide said.

“There’s no transport to pick up and drop off the players, but we do our best to attend the training and prepare ourselves. Our best bet is to play mind games. Psychological preparation is what counts now.

“We are going to stick with the game plan when on the court. We will slow down the game when our opponent tries to play fast and play at our own pace.”

Besides playing netball, the NDoH ladies aim to conduct health awareness through sports, so that’s why they registered a team in October 2024 to participate in the Public Servants Netball Association (PSNA).

This initiative came about under the ‘Non-Communicable Disease' program in collaboration with the PNG Sports Foundation, with the primary objective of bringing a health message to all government departments.

Through the netball games, the players and volunteers conducted free voluntary diabetes testing during World Diabetes Day (November 2024), basic health checks, and counseling on living a healthy lifestyle.

President of PSNA, Mary Nauga, was given the privilege to conduct the ten-minute awareness program during the games that day, as well as hand out brochures. Global statistics on diabetes and information on the dangers of consuming refined foods were also disseminated.

The other health awareness program conducted during the season was World Aids Day, commemorated a day just before December 1st. The activity was a mixed array of health promotion messages from prevention to testing and retaining the patients on treatment. 

The UN agencies such as UNICEF and UNFPA also joined the occasion to advocate for parent-to-child transmission and led the condomized campaign respectively.

Other Government departments such as the Censorship Board also donated merchandise for the Q&A session, while private companies came on board with donations of gift vouchers, merchandise, and skin care products.

While participating in the PSNA competition, the NDoH women will continue to carry out awareness of healthy living and of course, endeavoring to make their presence felt on the courts.