Homebrew, liquor claim young lives in Simbu
By ZACHERY PER
ILLEGAL homebrew liquor and drugs production and consumption have claimed many young lives in Simbu province, according to the Kundiawa General Hospital.
Hospital chief executive officer (CEO) Sr Opah Tugo confirmed last week in Kundiawa that several youths had died as a direct result of heavy consumption of homebrew liquor and marijuana smoking.
She said youths, especially girls, were also vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS because while under the influence of home- brew and drugs, they did not know what they were doing and could easily had sex with somebody that was HIV positive.
Ms Tugo said home brew, commonly known as steam, contains over 100% pure alcohol, which is very dangerous for the liver.
She, however, did not mention specific statistics of the casualties, but said that homebrew burntthe liver and when patients were brought to the hospital, there was no high-tech equipment and modern facilities like in Australia to save their lives.
Officer-in-charge of STI and HIV/AIDS at the Kundiawa General Hospital, Jerry Rekso, revealed during the National Health Week Exposition in Kundiawa town early this month that a total of 179 people were confirmed HIV positive in Simbu province.
He said that out of this, 94 were females while the rest were males, adding over the previous five years cases for males were high but in the last three years the female figure had increased.
Mr Rekso said 19 of these were on antiretroviral treatment (ART) but that did not completely eradicate the virus.
“HIV/AIDS is here to stay, you should exercise a lot of responsibility to stay away from it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Simbu police will this week launch a major operation to curb the escalating spread of marijuana and home-brew beverage in the province.
Provincial police commander Supt Joseph Tondop, with the help of other stakeholders, will conduct the operation to stop illegal liquor and drug consumption in the six districts in Simbu. province.  
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