For three consecutive weeks, Dr Lenny Ekawati taught the online course Behavioural Epidemiology and Health Culture in Papua for the Epidemiology class in the Master’s Programme in Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Cenderawasih, Papua. The class was attended by 16 students from different parts of Tanah Papua, including Jayapura, Mamberamo Raya, Yapen Waropen Islands, Mimika, Manokwari, and Sorong. Since the students came from varied local settings, the class became a dynamic learning space. Beyond discussing theory, the sessions connected epidemiological concepts with real experiences from the field.

The course began with malaria prevention. In Papua, malaria is not only about mosquitoes, medicine, and bed nets. It is also linked to sleeping practices, outdoor activities, population mobility, environmental conditions, access to primary health centres, and community trust in health services. Malaria prevention therefore needs to be understood as an integrated intervention. Bed nets remain important, but they need to be supported by vector control, early detection, prompt treatment, and approaches that fit people’s everyday lives.

In the second session, the class discussed stunting as a child growth problem shaped by multiple determinants. Stunting is not simply about a child being short. It reflects chronic growth problems linked to food intake, repeated infections, sanitation, food security, caregiving practices, poverty, and access to health services. In Papua, these challenges are made more complex by distance to health facilities, transport barriers, food prices, food distribution, and socio-cultural diversity.

The third week focused on non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. Students were encouraged to see that “lifestyle” is not merely a personal choice. Diet, smoking, physical activity, and health checks are shaped by work, income, markets, advertising, public spaces, screening services, and social norms.

The main thread across the three weeks was that health does not only occur inside the human body. It is also shaped by social, cultural, economic, ecological, health service, and policy environments. Epidemiology, therefore, is not only about counting cases and reading numbers. It also needs to understand the context behind the data: who is most at risk, why those risks emerge, and which interventions are most relevant, fair, and realistic for communities across Tanah Papua.