Euphoria Or Cancer? Take Your

Choice With The Betel Nut

From BARRY WHEELER in Port Moresby

Resigned New Guineans are learning belatedly that even the simple pleasures of life, if not fat tening, illegal or addictive, can cer tainly be guaranteed by someone to

be unhealthy.

In a few months one of their treasured and pleasurable pastimes, the chewing of the euphoric betel nut, is to be assailed by a govern ment campaign which one cynic has suggested will turn Papua New Guinea into a nation of misan thropes.

Government officials here are tak ing their cue from the anti-smoking campaign to bombard chewers with a bewildering array of statistics to prove that betel nut is indeed a health hazard.

For instance, say health depart ment officials, it’s a fact that betel nut, chewed with lime, pepper or

mustard, causes 35 per cent of the total number of cancer cases in Papua New Guinea.

Even more persuasive is their claim that betel nut chewing has resulted in Papua New Guinea being accorded the unenviable distinction of having the world’s highest number of mouth cancer cases.

Betel nut chewing is not a social trait confined to Papua New Guinea, although some experts have argued that there are few countries with such a high proportion of the population indulging in the habit.

As an adjunct, or even an alter native, to cigarette smoking, chewing is an everyday pastime for more than 200 million people in a geographic area extending crescent-like from Africa to north-west Australia.

The nut itself is slightly larger than a big cherry, brownish in colour and.

like nutmeg, is hot and acrid with aromatic and astringent properties.

To achieve the euphoric effect it is necessary to chew the nut with lime-processed from coral, sea-shells or mountain lime—and a pepper or mustard stick.

Once a chewer has taken the in gredients from his betel set, usually carried nowadays in a plastic travel ling bag, the next stage is a matter of personal preference.

Some wrap the lime in a betel leaf before chewing; others apply the lime directly to the inside of the cheek with a spatula while the most common practice is to gnaw a lime dipped pepper stick while sucking away at the nut.

The mixture is prosaically termed a “cerebral stimulant”. The effect is a trifle more dramatic. The pupils contract, there is an increased secre tion of tears, sweat, and red-coloured saliva, and the chewer is imbued with a feeling of well-being, good humour and an increased capacity for work.

The beginner undergoes an initial phase not unlike that a person new to smoking experiences—dizziness, vertigo, nausea and cold perspiration —but habituation is soon established and the unpleasant symptoms diminish.

One of the most highly-prized effects is the pleasant odour imparted to the breath and, despite the neces sity to spit out the red juice, it is so cially acceptable here as a mild drug because of the rare incidence of addiction.

Attitudes to betel chewing are de termined largely by social circum stances. To the culture-bound alien the practice is loathsome and con trary to reasonable standards of hygiene.

To the New Guinean it is no more offensive than smoking, perhaps even less so because it sweetens the breath in addition to driving away care and promoting goodwill.

Yet health officials here say it is

indisputably harmful.

According to dental therapist Anthony Pumpara, who is preparing the government campaign, betel nut causes a build-up of debris around the mouth and gums.

Since the use of the toothbrush is not customary in Papua New Guinea, the result is that 90 per cent of the

population suffers from some kind of gum disease.

In contrast, he points out, only 10 per cent of the people have tooth decay, probably because of a natural diet, free from the impurities con tained in western foods.

The mixture of betel nut, lime and pepper or mustard sticks, says Mr Pumpara, burns the soft tissues inside the mouth, causing irritation and, eventually, sores.

A major part of the oral hygiene campaign will be advice on how to spot the tell-tale signs of mouth can cer, described simply in booklets as “white marks” which are noticeable during the intermediate stage between irritation and sores.

Should the campaign have any ap preciative success, cigarettes—which don’t bear the customary health warning on packets in Papua New Guinea—are unlikely to become sig nificantly more popular.

Comparing the two in terms of tension easing and cost, betel nut is far the better buy for a nation of low-income earners. But the cam paign might, as one happy chewer suggested, result in a rush on tooth brushes by those sufficiently moved to make some kind of gesture, no

matter how small.-

Aap.

Landowners in

the taxi business

Eight landowners from the central Bougainville villages of Guava and Moroni have established a taxi busi ness, Guava Holdings. Both these villages receive large compensation payments from Bougainville’s copper mine and their residents are develop ing several business enterprises.

The radio-controlled taxis, a 10strong fleet of new model Fords, are based in the coastal town of Arawa.

The company was launched early this year with advice from Bougain ville Copper’s business advisory staff and the directors appointed a tem porary expatriate manager, Yvonne Reid. Most of the drivers are Bou gainvilleans with several New Britain men lending experience. Re cently an Australian taxi driver, John O'Brien, offered to work at a mission on the island and found himself instead back “behind the wheel”. He is training a local man as the permanent manager.

Public demand has been high since February’s Queen’s visit. Every weekend the lime-green taxis ply busily between Panguna, the mine site, down through Arawa and Kieta and out to the Aropa airport. Guava taxis are, after half their first year of operation, a successful business.