Political leadership ‘feeble’ in AIDS fight
By JULIA DAIA BORE
LEADERSHIP at the political level in PNG to tackle HIV/AIDS has been described as feeble.
Nasfund joint CEO Rod Mitchell said it is not lack of resources but leadership because, while resources have been there, “the generals are missing from the battlefield”.
Mr Mitchell is the man behind the Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS (BAHA).
He was speaking last night at a dinner in Port Moresby to commemorate BAHA’s first year of existence.
Mr Mitchell said the lack of leadership over the last few months had seen the effective unravelling of the National AIDS Council through legislative, legal and bureaucratic wrangles, maladministration and malaise.
“The Government response to HIV is now deep in trouble. Many current activities of NACS like condom distribution, need to be outsourced to businesses and NGOs,” Mr Mitchell said.
He said there was indeed a serious need for a complete restructuring of the NAC, to remove it from political influence and from public service culture and restrains.
“It needs to be liberated from Government, just as National Provident Fund (NPF) and PNGBC were,” he said.
“The problems with the HIV response have never been about money. The Government is flush with money; the donor agencies are generous and willing. The problem is and has always been about leadership.”
He called on all within the communities to work together in keeping the people of PNG safe and alive.
Mr Mitchell called on the business community involved in BAHA to continue their contributions into “building an even better response over 2008”.
He said HIV/AIDS affected business.
It imposed large costs on businesses, the cost of retraining, the cost of work shadowing, of sick days, low productivity, falling moral and loss of corporate history,” he said.
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