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Papua New Guinea is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases nationwide that began in February 2021. The total number of reported cases and deaths are likely significantly underreported but as of end-April 2021, a total of 10 500 confirmed cases including 99 deaths have been reported. Medecins Sans Frontieres has warned, “the health system in PNG is at risk of collapsing, as health facilities managing COVID-19 are close to capacity and almost too stretched to provide regular basic healthcare.” The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Heart to Heart International (HHI) have joined forces to address the dire need for healthcare support in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as the island is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 which began in February 2021. WHO has indicated it can provide approximately $50 000 to support a HHI Covid-19 response to Papua New Guinea. The anticipated budget for a six week response is $115 771. HHI requires $65 771 to cover the balance required to respond to the Covid-19 state of emergency. We’re calling on the world community to help Native Vanilla raise much-needed money to cover the funding gap for a deployment. Help us to help HHI save the lives of millions of people on our beloved island. For every order placed on nativevanilla.com in May, we will donate $1 to the HHI response fund.   Background to the Covid-19 crisis in PNG  For eight consecutive weeks, PNG National Department of Health has reported increases in cases. The numbers could be a lot worse because, as of March, fewer than 60 000 Covid-19 tests had been conducted in PNG. As of April, only 1 508 of the approximately 8.8 million people have received Covid-19 vaccines. The Pacific Island state has only about 500 doctors, less than 4 000 nurses and under 3 000 community health workers. That translates to 0.5 physicians per 10 000 population and 5.3 nurses per 10 000 population. This critical shortage could get much worse following reports that many healthcare workers have been infected by the virus at facilities in several provinces.   PNG Covid-19 Response Project Proposal  Heart to Heart International (HHI) is responding to WHO’s request for a small international medical team of two doctors, four nurses and one team of experienced volunteers for a six-week deployment. HHI has extensive experience in training organisations on the prevention of the spread of Covid-19. The goal of the HHI response project is to not only provide much-needed medical relief for overworked healthcare workers but also to provide training on critical skills to prevent and treat the virus. In addition, HHI will also support the needs of the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital which, due to travel restrictions, has not been able to receive their usual volunteer rotation which provides relief for their local staff.   How can you help? Native Vanilla will donate $1 from every order placed on nativevanilla.com for the month of May to help raise money for the HHI Covid-19 Response Project funding gap. Supporting Native Vanilla by buying our high-quality vanilla products will mean we can help in some small way to save the lives of millions of people in PNG. PNG produces the finest dry-cured vanilla beans in the world and is the third-largest producer of vanilla products in the world. Native Vanilla has worked tirelessly over many years to uplift the rural farming community and promote sustainable farming rather than subsistence farming. Native Vanilla remains committed to helping the men, women and children of PNG and we will continue to look for ways to help the country’s healthcare workers during this perilous time.

Ding, ding, ding!  Have you noticed there is difference between Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Vanilla Ice Cream? It has to do with the difference between vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract. Even though vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract are interchangeable for one another in almost all recipes – with a conversion of 1:1 – don’t be fooled! Vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract are not the same. In fact, their distinguishing characteristics make them extremely unique in design. 

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