Population Health and Religion
Papua New Guinea has a population of 5.8 million. Most ofthe 87% living in rural areas are subsistence farmers. Infant mortality is high at 70 per 1000 children dying by the age of 5 yrs, and there is around one doctor per 10,000 people although most are in urban areas. Rural health services are poor and deteriorating.
Christianity is the predominant religion (97%), but is often combined in uneasy tension with traditional beliefs. Animistic traditions, which have a deep awareness of the spirit world in everything, still underlie practices aiming to control the forces and beings around them.