SILVER SPRING, Md.—Insufficient disease prevention and awareness are fueling an already growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Papua New Guinea, the country with the highest HIV incidence in the Pacific region, said the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

To help curb the spread of the disease, which already affects an estimated 2 percent of the adult population, or some 64,000 people, according to a recent study by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), ADRA is providing counseling and testing through the ADRA Family Support and Community Information Center in Lae, the country's second largest city and the capital of the eastern Morobe Province.

"Lack of education is a big part of the problem in the high rate of HIV here," said Dr. Raul Schneider, country director for ADRA Papua New Guinea. "People still don't understand how the disease can impact their lives."

The center was established in 2004 with funding from AusAID through the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program (CPP).

The ADRA Family Support and Community Information Center also encourages communities to practice responsible sex, and acts as a resource center, offering books and audiovisual materials that educate youth, the most affected segment of the population, on topics including HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and reproductive health.

"Our goal is to educate people so that they make informed decisions on risky behavioral practices," said Harvey Kitoria, director for the ADRA Family Support and Community Information Center.

ADRA also conducts HIV/AIDS awareness programs in businesses and academic institutions, and has carried out confidential mobile testing for more than 1,200 employees of private companies, as well as voluntary counseling, through its partnership with the Papua New Guinea Business Coalition Against HIV (BAHA).

Families affected by the disease also benefit from ADRA's home-based care visits, which provide family counseling and support and help to minimize stigma and discrimination within families and communities.

ADRA also provides nutritional information primarily for HIV-positive individuals and their families, helping them improve their diets, which is an important part in strengthening weakened immune systems and protecting them from infection.

Church leaders and clergy, who are receiving HIV prevention training from ADRA, are being encouraged to lead HIV awareness activities in their own congregations. This has been a direct result of the clergy's own interest in learning to better address HIV and AIDS and to integrate HIV education into their church programs, primarily because of the impact the disease has had among their church constituents, according to Schneider.

ADRA has also released audiovisual materials in Tok Pidgin, the local language, including two DVDs that were produced in partnership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, titled "O Papa God" and "Em rot blong me yet," the latter meaning "It is my fault". The DVDs, which are subtitled in English, have been widely sold and viewed throughout the country, and focus on HIV and AIDS stigma, domestic violence, and other important issues. A third DVD will be made available soon.

The Papua New Guinea CPP will enter its second phase in July 2009, and is expected to continue for six more years. Additional funding for ADRA Papua New Guinea's HIV and AIDS initiatives comes from private donors and the national government.

Papua New Guinea's growing HIV/AIDS epidemic could have serious long-term consequences, including lower life expectancy, workforce reduction, higher healthcare spending, and lower economic growth, according to AusAID's "Impacts of HIV/AIDS 2005 - 2025 in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor - Final Report." Unless a serious intervention to halt this epidemic is mounted, the report states, by 2025 more than half a million Papua New Guineans will be living with HIV/AIDS, 117,000 children will have lost their mothers to AIDS, and as much as 70 percent of hospital beds will be needed to care for AIDS patients.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

Author: Nadia McGill