The epidemic on our doorstep: UNAIDS report reveals Papua New Guinea's startling HIV infection rate
Source: ChildFund Australia
Website: http://www.childfund.org.au
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ChildFund staff hold an educational billboard with the slogan:
Newly released figures on the state of the world's HIV/AIDS incidence rates have highlighted Papua New Guinea as one of the world's emerging crisis areas.
According to the 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, HIV/AIDS diagnoses have increased by approximately 30 per cent annually since 1997, with an estimated 60,000 Papua New Guineans living with the disease in 2005.
High levels of violence against women, erratic condom use and a lack of access to prevention education are cited as the major causes of the growing epidemic.
"Combating HIV infection rates with preventative education and community health programs is the most effect way to abate the spread of AIDS," says Nigel Spence, CEO of ChildFund Australia.
"ChildFund Australia works with local communities in PNG to educate young people about the dangers of unprotected sex, but there is a long way to go. Sadly, it is often children who are hardest hit when a parent or both parents die as a result of AIDS, or when an unborn child is infected in the womb."
According to Mr Spence, intensive education and greater awareness of the virus through youth groups and peer education, combined with increased condom availability and usage, will give Papua New Guineans the chance to curb these worrying statistics before they reach the epidemic levels of sub-Saharan Africa.
But he added: "To combat rising infection rates, a co-ordinated, nationwide approach to the crisis is essential. It is extremely important for the Papua New Guinean government, churches and agencies such as ChildFund to work together if we are to have any kind of positive impact in the long-term.
"Due to the remote nature of many communities in PNG, local government must play a role in awareness education and provision of medical treatment to all members of the population."
Results from the UNAIDS report also reveal that almost a quarter of a million children aged under 15 were living with HIV in 2003 and 2005 in South Africa. South Africa also had the highest number of children orphaned by AIDS in 2003 and 2005, with a staggering 1200,000 children left without one or both parents as a result of AIDS.
Mr Spence said: "With the release of these global HIV/AIDS figures, awareness campaigns such as World AIDS Day on 1 December have a particular importance in uniting people around the globe in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"The ChildFund International network, which operates in over 50 developing countries, is committed to increasing awareness and prevention of the disease, as well as diminishing the social stigma of HIV/AIDS."
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
