Tip #1 How to cross the road in Manila: be bold, step forth, and try not get hit by a jeepney.

This was the first lesson I learnt from my fellow interns as we walked together on my first Monday morning to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Western Pacific Regional office in Manila, Philippines. It’s a 15 minute walk from the apartment complex where I’m living. On the way we pass stalls with vendors selling snacks, phonecards and other knick knacks, men resting in rickshaws, piles of rubbish on street corners… Mind not to step in the puddles - that was another piece of early advice.

It’s been an exciting, unexpected, challenging, fascinating first week at WHO. After a hectic month of uni exams, then sorting visas, tickets and applications, I finally boarded a plane on Sunday and arrived in Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday night. I’m living in a little studio apartment looking over a sprawling shopping mall just opposite our building, surrounded by high rise complexes and a constant background hum of traffic noises.

I’m interning here for the next 2 months at the Western Pacific Regional Office (or WPRO for short, everything – and I mean everything – has an abbreviation). I’m just learning the ropes about the organisation, its complex structures and procedures. I’m a hepatitis intern, which fits within the HSI unit (HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections), under the broader umbrella Division of Communicable Diseases (DCD).

Before coming, I had heard that I’d be the only hepatitis intern, and I had no idea if they’d be other interns around. So I kind of resolved myself to spending a lot of time alone. As it turns out there are not only heaps of other interns floating around in the other divisions, but at least 4 of them are living in the same apartment building together! The intern community has been really great, those who have been here for a few months and approaching the end of their term have showed us around, shared stories about their experiences (both good and bad!) and given lots of pointers about WHO, intern responsibilities, places to eat and travel to on weekends.  There’s also a trend of inheriting random household items from previous interns; spices, rainboots and a yoga mat have found their way into my apartment.

In just one week, I’ve started to learn about (and be incredibly confused by) disease modelling for hepatitis B and C treatment in Mongolia, the Philippines and Kiribati; become acquainted with the maze of floors and rooms at the WPRO office; sat in on a very formal annual Technical Meeting across all the divisions at WPRO; talked to various staff and interns about their involvement and the work of WPRO in the region; attended a day-long WHO communications training session for DCD… Basically being exposed to much much more public health and epidemiology in a few days than my whole education so far, which is both mind-blowing and and overwhelming.

I could rant on for ages about the situation in Mongolia, but I’ll try to keep it short. In a nutshell, Mongolia has very high rates of hepatitis B and C, and one of the most liver cancer deaths in the world. There is very little treatment available, and tends to be very expensive. A team including WPRO and other researchers conducted studies to work out how many deaths could be averted from introducing more treatment, as well as the costs that it would take. By working with the government, they have been able to design a national plan to get treatment in to the country. This will save tens of thousands of lives for people that may have otherwise be sentenced to a life of disability or early death. Pretty cool?

It’s a very very positive outcome, and it would be incredible if these disease burden studies (like the ones done for Mongolia) could help out other countries too. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt so far, it’s that in many cases the situation is very complex, as well as dependent on relationships with local authorities.

A highlight of the week was Friday night’s annual Christmas party. It’s a huge festivity celebrated together with all the staff, including the local Filipino general staff. It involves each division preparing a 10 minute performance of song, dance and acting, complete with music and costumes. I was initially amused and couldn’t believe how seriously this party was taken by the staff! This year’s theme was “A Knight’s Tale”, loosely medieval but from an onlookers perspective it was more of a cosplay/pop-culture dream-come-true with a mish-mash of pop cultures with some medieval hints thrown in. We’re talking full-blown Disney, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter costumes. There were at least 2 Ariels and Ursulas, 2 Beauty and the Beasts, and 3 Maleficents walking around. Everyone got really into the spirit of the celebrations, hyped up by the decorations, music and elaborate costumes. 

Ultimately the winner was DNH (Division of Non Communicable Diseases and Health throughout the Life Course – what a mouthful!). They absolutely killed it, not only with very well executed dancing but also incorporating their “healthy diet” message into the skit, using “Sugar” by Maroon 5, and signs saying “Use less than 6 teaspoons of sugar” and “Healthily ever after.” DCD (our division) came away with a respectable 3^rd place :)

As interns, we stayed back late and danced our feet off on the lawn, feeling free and exhilaratingly alive.

Carrie