One of the major parts of the expedition was distributing anti LF drugs to the Korowai people as part of the LF eradication program. The drugs we used were DEC and albendazole. These drugs are difficult to purchase over the counter and therefore the previous doctors liaised with the WHO representative for the area in order to acquire these drugs. For our 2016 expedition there were enough of these drugs left over which would have allowed us to treat over 400 individuals. We therefore did not need to purchase any more of these drugs. For the next expedition however more of these LF drugs will be required.  

Due to the remoteness of the expedition we realised that if any medical emergencies were to occur it would take approximately 24 hours before we could evacuate the area to a medical facility. We therefore decided to take certain emergency drugs and equipment with us. The emergency drugs were purchased from a private pharmacy in the UK and included antibiotics, adrenaline, chlorpheniramine and diazepam. We took IV fluids and cannulas/giving sets/needles and dressings. Thankfully we did not need to use any of these drugs and have left them with the rest of the kit in Jayapura. 

During our trip we realised that many of the previous medications had unfortunately passed their expiry date and therefore had to be discarded. On our last day we therefore went through the remaining medication and donated those drugs that would expire over the next year to the Yaniruma clinic to minimise wasting. This included the Benzyl penicillin from the emergency kit and the remaining Optimal Rapid Malaria Test Kits. 

Due to the nature of the trip we needed to ensure that we put measures in place to minimise any risks to ourselves. Prior to the trip we received appropriate vaccinations for the area including Japanese encephalitis and rabies. We also took malaria prophylaxis drugs and carried our own supply of first aid medications including: analgesia, anti-diarrhoeal agents, anti-emetics, anti-histamines, oral rehydration salts (ORS) etc. We had been told that our drinking water would mainly come from the rivers in the forest. Although the guides did use a filter this was a basic filter and would not have been sufficient. In order to ensure safe drinking water we took chloride tablets and used a filtered drinking bottle. The water was therefore initially filtered using the guides’ filter, then treated with chloride tablets and subsequently drank through a filtered bottle. Although this may have been excessive it was easy to do, cheap and ensured we did not fall ill with gastro intestinal upset which would have greatly impacted on the trip. During the treks due to high humidity levels a lot of salts were lost through excess sweating. Therefore it was important to rehydrate using ORS to avoid low sodium levels and subsequent light headedness. In order to do this some bottled water was also required specifically for the treks as ORS cannot be used in filter bottles.     

Most of the medication required for the Korowai was either purchased from a pharmacy in Jayapura or had already been left over from the previous expeditions. Despite this we still needed to transport the emergency kit and medications (which included IV fluids), malaria testing kits and further equipment for the clinics from the UK. We obtained a letter from the charity explaining why these medications were necessary, which also helped in purchasing these medications from the pharmacy as this was done using a private prescription. For the most part the journey with this equipment to Jayapura was uneventful, however due to the excess weight from the medical kit we did run into some issues when flying from Jakarta to Jayapura due to the baggage allowance.  For future trips this may need to be taken into account when booking flights.