UPNG students outraged at AIDS
claims by Prof Eastcott
By WINIS MAP
STUDENTS at the University of Papua New Guinea are outraged at
claims by former vice-chancellor Prof Les Eastcott that 12 % of
the student population is HIV positive.
The students are now demanding Prof Eastcott to explain and disclose
the source of his data.
In a speech delivered at the 51st graduation last Friday, Prof
Eastcott said 12% of the student population was infected. That
would mean 360 students of the current 3,000 full-time students
enrolled.
When asked to confirm these figures, a representative of the
National Capital District provincial AIDS committee told The National
that they have never heard of any reported HIV cases at UPNG,
nor do they have any data to back the figures.
Dr Joachim Pantumari, a senior medical adviser with the National
AIDS Council Secretariat, said they don’t have figures on
HIV/AIDS from UPNG but they do have figures from the University
of Goroka, which has a 1.6% HIV prevalence rate.
Dr Pantumari said Prof Eastcott could be right about the
12% HIV prevalence rate at the UPNG because “he may have
his own sources”.
He said the PNG national HIV prevalence rate is 2.7 % and
the national estimate of people living with HIV infection and
AIDS is 70,000.
“A commercial sex worker or a sexually active person
has the capability of infecting five to 10 other people in a day,”
Dr Pantumari said when explaining the possibility of high rate
of people living with HIV in a small community like UPNG.
“The 12% prevalence of AIDS at UPNG as reported is comparable
to the prevalence reported from the voluntary counselling testing
(VCT) centres in PNG,” he said.
Dr Pantumari said community surveys are producing prevalence
from 2% to 16%.
“The student population at UPNG is a mixture of students
entering the university from national and secondary high schools,
and those working for years and now entering the university, and
this could be one explanation of such high prevalence,”
Dr Pantumari said.
Students reacted angrily to the claim by Prof Eastcott, carried
in the front page of The National yesterday, and put up notices
at the campus for a forum to discuss this. But the forum did not
eventuate by 5:30pm.
A number of students interviewed by The National expressed anger
that the departing VC should make such comments.
One student said Eastcott was trying to “damage the image
of the university”.
Brian Haill
President,
The Australian AIDS Fund Inc.,
PO Box 1347,
Frankston, VIC, 3199
Australia
Email: bhaill@bigpond.net.au
Website: www.aids.net.au
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