Identification survey to start next August

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
A NATIONAL population-based survey to identify and monitor HIV prevalence in the country is to start next August.
The HIV integrated biological and behavioural survey will be the first for the country and the Pacific.
The survey is part of the government’s response to the fight against the spread of HIV and its effects on the lives of Papua New Guineans.
A two-day planning workshop is under way in Port Moresby to identify and plan methods, roles and strategies to conduct the survey. The workshop ends today.
Provincial health advisors, disease control officers and HIV response coordinators representing the four different regions are participating in the workshop to gain knowledge, educate and prepare people for the survey. 
Participants are engaged in group activities and discussions to identify feasible planning points.   
The survey will be coordinated by the Family Health International.
Workshop facilitator Dr Guy Morineau of FHI said the survey should provide an estimate of people living with HIV, identify behaviours that lead to HIV transmission and identify provinces and areas that require great need for care and prevention interventions. 
“The survey will take more than a year to complete. It will provide the first country-wide estimates of HIV prevalence and will strengthen future efforts to prevent HIV infection and provide treatment and care for people living with HIV in PNG,” he said.
He said the survey was important because HIV prevalence was estimated from pregnant women attending antenatal clinics. And certain important data are still unknown including the people most vulnerable to HIV, HIV prevalence among men and in rural areas.
It will be carried out by the National Department of Health and supported by the National AIDS Council Secretariat, National Research Institution and National Catholic HIV/AIDS services.
It will be conducted through questionaires, personal interviews, blood sampling and counselling.
The results of the questionaires and HIV tests will help identify the behaviours responsible for most of HIV transmission in PNG.
The information and data will give the Government and authorities fair ideas to plan targets and expand HIV programmes and services.