Jiwaka tops HIV cases
The National, Thursday 6th June 2013
By JAMES APA GUMUNO
JIWAKA has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases of any province in the country.
Western Highlands Provincial AIDS Council’s technical officer Apollos Yimbak said out of the 4221 HIV/AIDS cases recorded in the two provinial areas between 2009 and 2012, more than half were from Jiwaka.
“We are in a process of separating the figures for Jiwaka from Western Highlands but by just looking at the districts, Jiwaka has more,” he said.
He said out of 4221 recorded cases only 2000 people living with the virus were on the ART drug.
Yimbak said that in 2011, 1033 new cases were recorded for the two provinces and last year they saw a decline, with 970 new cases.
When comparing all provinces in terms of province of origin, Jiwaka comes first, he said.
“With the local level government election just around the corner, I appeal to the people of Jiwaka and Western Highlands to change their mindsets and refrain from engaging in sex outside of marriage and getting the virus,” Yimbak said.
He urged people to stop engaging in unsafe sex during activities organised by ekection candidates during nights.
Yimbak said one could not tell whether a person had the virus and he or she could pass on the virus.
He said that during the national election last year, they had seen a decline in new cases and wanted people to continue to take extra precaution during the upcoming LLG election period to help minimise the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Yimbak said it was “a very worrying situation” when hundreds of people were infected every year through unsafe sex.
“I am very concerned about your life, you can’t replace it with a new one once infected and therefore it’s very important that you look after your life.”
Yimbak appealed to people to visit their nearest voluntary testing and counselling centres for blood checks to know their status which would also give them peace of mind.