Papua New Guinea: Waking Up Finally to the HIV and AIDS Threat
By Kevin Pamba
MADANG, Dec 5 (IPS) - When the new government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) set up in August a separate ministry devoted to containing HIV and AIDS in this Pacific Island country, it reflected the enormity of the threat to its six million people.
The government also increased funding for the fight against HIV and AIDS in its 2008 national budget passed on Nov. 20 from 12 million Kina (3.7 million US dollars) in 2007 to 15 million kina (4.6 million dollars).
Yet, this response is being seen as coming too little too late. Experts have been warning PNG of a sub-Saharan Africa-like AIDS epidemic for a decade now, but the government and the public took little notice.
According to the National AIDS Council’s ‘2007 Estimation Report’, released in August, as of December 2006 there were 4,017 people who tested HIV positive, a 30 percent increase from 2005, bringing the cumulative number of diagnosed cases to 18,484.
The council also reported that "the revised estimates indicate that the national HIV prevalence is 1.28 percent among adults aged 15-49 years.’’
Many believe that PNG should be doing far more if it is to win the war against HIV and AIDS. For a start it could stop marginalising people already living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) says Joe Egu, a well-known campaigner in the country.
To read the full article from IPSNEWS, click on:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40348
MADANG, Dec 5 (IPS) - When the new government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) set up in August a separate ministry devoted to containing HIV and AIDS in this Pacific Island country, it reflected the enormity of the threat to its six million people.
The government also increased funding for the fight against HIV and AIDS in its 2008 national budget passed on Nov. 20 from 12 million Kina (3.7 million US dollars) in 2007 to 15 million kina (4.6 million dollars).
Yet, this response is being seen as coming too little too late. Experts have been warning PNG of a sub-Saharan Africa-like AIDS epidemic for a decade now, but the government and the public took little notice.
According to the National AIDS Council’s ‘2007 Estimation Report’, released in August, as of December 2006 there were 4,017 people who tested HIV positive, a 30 percent increase from 2005, bringing the cumulative number of diagnosed cases to 18,484.
The council also reported that "the revised estimates indicate that the national HIV prevalence is 1.28 percent among adults aged 15-49 years.’’
Many believe that PNG should be doing far more if it is to win the war against HIV and AIDS. For a start it could stop marginalising people already living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) says Joe Egu, a well-known campaigner in the country.
To read the full article from IPSNEWS, click on:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40348
posted by Pax Christi @ Saturday, February 09, 2008
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