Helping fight HIV/AIDS

MATILDA Keukeu draws on her own story to bring life-changing service to remote communities.
Her perseverance in educating her people about HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) has encouraged them to learn about their HIV status, seek counselling and begin treatment if they tested positive.
Keukeu is an HIV and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) officer with the Veifa’a health centre, Kairuku, Central, where she has been involved in HIV/AIDS awareness since 2006.
She is an HIV-positive person and has been on ART for more than 17 years.
Keukeu uses her story, experience and expertise to educate women and men on the importance of sexual health and wellbeing.
As part of her work, she helps people to manage the physical and psychological challenges of living with HIV in remote communities.
The Veifa’a health centre is among 22 Catholic church health services (CCHS) facilities implementing the sexual reproductive health integration project (SRHIP) supported by the PNG-Australia partnership.
With SRHIP’s support, Keukeu was able to partner Marie Stopes (PNG) for a stronger families project outreach programme and the Bereina health services.
Together, they reached more than 20,000 people with their awareness in Mekeo-Kuni, Kairuku rural local level government areas.
According to a statement from the Australian High Commission, SRHIP is also supporting the CCHS to roll out an expert counselling toolkit for patient counsellors like Keukeu.
The toolkit assists health workers to support health and wellbeing for people with special needs, including those living with HIV. There is still hesitancy towards testing because of stigma and discrimination.
With Keukeu’s antenatal and community awareness efforts, 380 people came forward to get tested at the Veifa’a Health Centre.
Currently, there are 36 people on ART at Veifa’a and 25 of these are women, 10 are men and one infant.
The health centre also has an ongoing programme to prevent parent-to-child transmission which runs along with the community awareness.
Keukeu hosts HIV awareness twice a week with mothers at the antenatal clinic and encourages women and men to know their HIV status and seek treatment to prevent transmission to infants.
Through SRHIP, around 7,000 people across 11 provinces have been tested for HIV since 2019 and more than 3,000 are currently supported on ART.
Through this programme, Keukeu and other health workers across the country are creating more awareness about the realities of HIV/AIDS – reducing stigma, protecting communities from its spread, and providing treatment so that HIV-positive people can live full and productive lives.