Churches lead AIDS war

CHURCHES are actively involved in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Western Highlands.
A presentation by district AIDS councils (DAC), during a three day meeting in Mt Hagen last week, revealed that churches played a major role in addressing the epidemic in the rural areas.
The presentation revealed that the churches addressed the issue by providing building infrastructure to be used as care centres, testing and counselling, distribution of the antiretroviral treatment (ART), awareness and various services through health centres in communities where these churches were active.
Some of the churches involved in the fight against HIVAIDS are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Nazarene, Evangelical Brotherhood church (EBC), Lutheran, and other born-again churches.
It was also revealed that the provincial administration,  members of Parliament, community leaders and educated elites also supported the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS by allocating funding and logistics support for the DACs.
The continuous assistance provided by non-governmental organisations, community groups and other advocacy groups also played effective parts.
Another group increasingly becoming effective in awareness programmes was community theatre groups.
These groups help bring out the underlying factors affecting people in communities and help them understand the issue better in simple terms.
While identifying the gaps, it was revealed that the remote Jimi area was still trying to keep up while other districts had established DAC offices.
Baiyer-Lumusa was seen as a problem because ongoing tribal fighting in the area hindered the work of the stakeholders.
True Warriors, a group made up of people living with HIV (PLHIV), said there was a need to have counsellors at VCT sites, and proper care and support.
They also said ART needed to be provided at districts, a full time doctor at Tininga, and other issues which they called on relevant authorities to address.
The True Warriors association aims to be the provincial coordinating body for PLHIV.