The changing pattern of disease in the world today involves both developed and developing societies. Increasingly, health problems are a combination of both long-established and newer diseases, their pathogens and a complex ecological interaction with culturally-mediated human behaviour. This paper discusses the characteristics of the contemporary health/illness interface in relation to a particularly important discipline-epidemiology. It considers a part of the Pacific area where examples of these changes are particularly evident, ie Melanesia, with specific attention to the recently-independent nation of Papua New Guinea. The paper poses the need for viable concepts and models accurately representing present-day disease dynamics, especially for developing countries. The success or otherwise of primary health care programmes and of health services overall depends on formal recognition of the relationship between health and behaviour, with particular reference to the direct implementation of this programme into health services and medical education.
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