Courtesy Photo | Service members make blood smears as part of the disease surveillance efforts at No...... read more read more
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research – Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences conducted disease surveillance in support of exercise No Sick Soljia from 28 March to 14 April in Wewak, Papua New Guinea.
No Sick Soljia is an annual exercise conducted by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in partnership with the Australian Defence Force. This year, the exercise involved participation from the United States. The training exercise is designed to improve the interoperability and readiness of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces and allied forces.
WRAIR-AFRIMS supported the exercise by implementing field capable technologies for disease surveillance and building PNGDF’s ability to conduct independent health assessments. The team travelled to Moem barracks to screen service members and their families for infectious disease including malaria and G6PD status. G6PD is an enzyme involved in drug metabolism, and individuals with G6PD deficiency can experience serious adverse reactions to certain antimalarial medications. Screening for G6PD status is therefore critical before initiating treatment.
WRAIR-AFRIMS disease surveillance revealed that 60 percent of the 550 participants screened tested positive for malaria. The results were shared with force protection leadership to inform malaria prevention and intervention strategies within the PNGDF.
“WRAIR is uniquely qualified to provide the most up-to-date disease surveillance to protect force health in Papua New Guinea,” said Maj. Brian Vesely, Chief of Joint Lab Operations at WRAIR-AFRIMS. “But we don’t just come in, do the testing, and leave. We train our allies and help them build their own capabilities for vector borne disease surveillance.”
By providing biosurveillance training to the PNGDF, WRAIR-AFRIMS is enhancing medical interoperability and strengthening our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific.
“WRAIR’s participation in No Sick Soljia is part of an ongoing agreement,” said Vesely. “This is our third year participating and although it’s a big lift to plan, it’s an exceptional opportunity to collect consistent, useful data that helps in each consecutive year. If you can tell the planners of these military exercises what to prepare for, you are far less likely to suffer from disease threats. WRAIR-AFRIMS has a tremendous amount of experience doing disease surveillance in the field and it’s one of the ways we protect force health in support of INDOPACOM priorities.”
To learn more about WRAIR-AFRIMS as well as our disease surveillance and other capabilities, visit our website at https://afrims.health.mil/
| Date Taken: | 05.28.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2025 11:54 |
| Story ID: | 499059 |
| Location: | WEWAK, PG |
| Web Views: | 139 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, WRAIR-AFRIMS protects force health at No Sick Soljia 2025, by Zeke Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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