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HIV/AIDS cases reach 17,000 mark
By FRANK RAI
THE National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS)
and the Health Department have reported more than 17,000 HIV/AIDS cases
within the last 20 years.
A report presented by the NACS and the department at a HIV/AIDS
consensus workshop in Lae, Morobe, last week, stated that the statistics
were an accumulation of the first HIV/AIDS case detected in 1987 up to
the end of last December..
While tabling the report, Agnes Gege of the NACS/NDOH surveillance unit
said there was a 10% increase within these years but due to poor
surveillance reports, the figures were yet to be confirmed and reported.
The current number of people infected by the virus stands at 17,568.
Mrs Gege said the decentralisation of confirmatory laboratories in
provinces had made a significant drop in the HIV/AIDS epidemic but it
was also yet to be verified because of technical failure in some centres.
However, she said the trend of HIV/AIDS in the country was increasing at
an alarming rate, which was yet to be verified due to the lack of
accurate and accessible surveillance data.
Ms Gege said HIV/AIDS cases monitored in the country had increased
quarterly within the last 20 years.
“The high HIV/AIDS cases reported within the last 20 years come from 135
surveillance and clinical sites. Those affected are the young female and
older men who are identified as the sexually-active population,
sometimes quoted as the high-risk population,” Ms Gege said.
She also said all Highlands provinces were leading in the HIV/AIDS
cases, adding that it might be due to the frequent test done by the
clinics.
The report showed that Western Highlands led with the highest rate of
more than 15%, Enga with 7%, Southern Highlands 5%, Simbu 4% and Eastern
Highlands 3%.
The workshop brought together medical services directors from each
province, pathologists, provincial AIDS council representatives, NGOs,
international HIV/AIDS organisations, NACS and Health Department
representatives.
 
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