AIDS council assists awareness efforts in Bougainville

THE National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) has stepped in to assist the Education Department through its National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat to host this year’s National Literacy Week to be hosted in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB).
This followed a cheque presentation of K10,000 from NACS to the AROB organising committee on Aug 23 in Port Moresby.
NACS deputy director Tony Lupiwa said literacy was a barrier to getting vital messages to Papua New Guineans.
“When people are able to read and write they understand things and are safe,” he said.
“If they are illiterate, they are unable to understand important messages and cannot stay out of harm’s way.”
Lupiwa said that in terms of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, the disease was spreading at a high rate among people who are mostly illiterate.
“The HIV epidemic in the country is spreading among the 15-49 age group,” he said.
“This is the sexually active age and those who are infected are in the category where they have little education.”
Lupiwa said most HIV positive men and women have not gone to school or have gone as far as grade eight.
“There is so much literature going from the NACS,” he said.
“We are sending out a lot of posters, pamphlets, putting up billboards and advertisements in the newspapers and on television but if they are not literate, the message will not reach them,” Lupiwa said.
“Because most of our population are illiterate it is very difficult to get the message across to them, unless someone is talking to them directly about what the message mean.”
Lupiwa said the NACS was partnering with the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat of the Education Department for that particular reason.
“For us to control HIV/AIDS over the next 10 years, we need to educate our people.”
The 2019 National Literacy Week will be hosted in the AROB starting today with the theme “Literacy transforms Christian values and education for Melanesia”.