More young people die from HIV/AIDS

By ALISON ANIS

MORE and more Papua New Guineans are dying at young age and many children have become orphaned when their parents died due to AIDS- related illnesses, young people attending a leadership support initiative (LSI) workshop in Port Moresby heard yesterday.

Unless action is taken now by everyone at all levels to reverse the situation, HIV epidemic will have a great impact on the development of the nation, Dr Ninkama Moiya, current adviser to the AusAID initiative Sanap Wantaim programme said. Dr Moiya was one of the facilitators at the workshop, an initiative of the Government and supported by the Australian government through AusAID in the country.

Members of the Leadership PNG (LPNG) and the PNG-Australia Alumni Association (PNGAA) attended the workshop.

Dr Moiya said reports on HIV impact on the development by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) estimated that after 20 years, economies in affected countries would be about 20%-40% smaller while the population of the 45 most affected countries would be 97 million smaller.
“In many countries, life expectancy will drop to 30- 40 years by 2010,” he said.

Dr Moiya highlighted that Papua New Guinea is now experiencing most of what has been stated in the reports with too many young people dying and many children becoming orphaned.

He said the major cause of death in Port Moresby medical wards was AIDS-related illnesses, with a total number of reported cases of 18,484 as of December 2006.

He said UNAIDS in 2002 classified the country as having a generalised HIV epidemic with adult prevalence of 0.9% to 2.5%.
“We rather deal with it now and action has to be taken in time because it is killing many of our young people and leaving many children orphaned today than before,” Dr Moiya said.

He added that if PNG continued to turn a blind eye on HIV, it would create and deepen poverty, impose burden of care on all levels and erode the ability of the Government to maintain essential services.
“It would also reverse achievements in education and undermine economic growth in the country,” Dr Moiya said.