P N G Med J. 1985 Sep; 28(3): 205-10.

The distribution of therapeutic knowledge in Ningerum: implications for primary health care and the use of aid posts.

Welsch RL.

Traditional healing among the Ningerum offers an excellent example of a typical Papua New Guinea ethnomedical system. In such systems diagnosis takes place in the family and most ailments are treated by widely known home based remedies. Knowledgeable individuals offer special limited treatments as kinsmen or friends but are seldom sought after. Aid post medicines are viewed as analogs of well known traditional remedies and are specifically requested as such. While this behaviour does not preclude utilization of Western medicine, it has important implications for the delivery of primary health care.