PNG has 4th highest growth rate in HIV/AIDS
cases
By ZACHERY PER
PAPUA New Guinea has the fourth highest growth rate of HIV/AIDS
cases in the Asia-Pacific region after Thailand, Cambodia and
Myanmar, and has one of the highest rate of Sexually Transmitted
Infection (STI) in the region.
This was revealed by Dr Joachim Pantumari, a senior medical
advisor with the National AIDS Council.
Speaking at the weeklong Public Sector Improvement Programme workshop
in Goroka this week, Dr Pantumari said the growth rate of the
disease in the country was “probably the highest”
in the world.
He said since the first HIV case was reported in PNG in 1987,
an average of 240 cases per month was being reported.
He said PNG reported 13,000 cases in the third quarter of last
year with male and female being equally infected.
Dr Pantumari said the age and sex distribution shows young people
aged between 15 and 45 age range were mostly being affected.
The mode of transmission was heterosexual sex (96%) followed
by mother-to-child transmission (4%), he said.
Dr Pantumari said figures showed more than half of the cases
were reported from the Highlands (14%), with Western Highlands
sharing 5%, Enga 3%, Simbu 3%, Southern Highland 2% and Eastern
Highlands 1%.
He said PNG was faced with a devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic and
with no effective action being taken the epidemic would take a
terrible toll on the people and economy.
“It had been estimated that the prevalence level could
reach about 18% by the year 2010 with over 50,000 adult deaths
and by 2020 the toll could increase to about 98,000 with a devastating
13% reduction size of the working age population and 34% decrease
in the work force,” Dr Pantumari told the participants.
He also said it was believed that 91,000 people in PNG carried
the virus without knowing about it and that they continued to
infect sexually active Papua New Guineans.
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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