In the remote villages of Papua New Guinea where ChildFund works, access to medical services and essential vaccinations for babies are often out of reach. It is not uncommon for families to be hours by foot from the nearest hospital. These journeys are incredibly difficult to undertake alone, not to mention with a newborn or a toddler, so children often go without.

To enable every child in these remote communities to be protected from illness and disease, ChildFund has introduced immunisation patrols – mobile clinics that travel into these villages with medical staff and supplies to immunise babies and toddlers. Included in the patrols are baby health checks, growth monitoring and malnutrition checks, as well as antenatal care for mothers and family planning services.

This project would not have been possible without the support of ChildFund Australia`s many wonderful community fundraisers. A very special thanks goes out to our City2Surf walkers and runners who together raised over $10,000 in 2012, and our New York Marathon runner Brett who singlehandedly raised over $11,000. Incredible effort!

In 2012, a total of 25 immunisation patrols were undertaken, vaccinating over 1,000 children in remote villages of Papua New Guinea. This work was made possible thanks to the scores of ChildFund supporters around Australia who challenged themselves with a fun run in their capital city last year, and our marathon runner Brett who took on the massive challenge of training for the New York Marathon (which sadly got cancelled at the last minute due to Hurricane Sandy!). Collectively, these amazing Aussies raised over $30,000 to support ChildFund`s immunisation patrols in PNG.

“It is inspiring to have supporters who take time out of their busy lives to raise money for children in poor communities,” says ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence. “It is thanks to their compassion and hard work that ChildFund can deliver immunisations and health checks for children in some of the most isolated communities in Papua New Guinea.”