Janet and Tamara

Janet has worked as the sister-in-charge and/or a midwife across PNG's healthcare system, including at Daru General Hospital, Alotau General Hospital, and in the family planning unit of Port Moresby's St Therese Clinic.

Janet would like to address PNG's high maternal and infant mortality rates by creating a system within antenatal departments that identifies and communicates risk factors early into pregnancies, so that these risks are managed and the women can be referred as soon as possible. She also intends to empower women to take charge of their reproductive health and to educate them about their rights to choose the number of children they have - that this decision is not made by their parents, husbands, in-laws or any other relatives.

Tamara has spent 20 years designing and delivering public health-focused programs in development settings. She is qualified in molecular biology and parasitology as well as in epidemiology and primary healthcare. She has worked in up to 22 countries on large-scale multi-million dollar national level programs and for smaller NGOs and community-level projects.

Tamara worked at Australia's renowned medical research and public health Burnet Institute for 19 years, including as Deputy Director and Head of the Centre for International Health's HIV and AIDS program. While based at the Institute, as Team Leader of the Pacific Regional HIV Program (PRHP), Tamara worked with the health ministries of 14 Pacific Island countries to design and implement their in-country HIV responses. She also supported multilateral and Pacific regional organisations to develop and implement the 'Pacific Regional HIV / STI Strategy'.