Men encouraged to be tested openly for HIV/AIDS

The National Health Watch

By STELLA MARIE AIHI
DWU Journalism Student
Men should be tested openly for HIV/AIDS at health centres like women to prevent the spread of the disease, says an official.
The Advocacy and Social Mobilisation Division manager of the National Aids Council, Valentine Tangoh, said this during the PNG Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV/AIDS Workshop last Thursday in Port Moresby.
Tangoh said it had been established that infected men did not have the confidence to be checked openly by health workers in fear of being discriminated in their own societies.
She said this posed a huge challenge in the prevention of the virus because there were high chances of infected men spreading the disease.
“The statistics of infected women is high because women get tested and are also checked by the health workers during antenatal clinic at the hospital while the statistics of the infected men are low because they are reluctant to be tested for the virus,” said Tangoh.
He said that the percentage of the infected patients of HIV/AIDS was reduced in 2010, however, the number increased rapidly in 2022, with 18 infected persons per day.
This had tremendously allowed PNG to be placed as the third country in the Asia-Pacific with the increased rate of HIV/AIDS cases.
He said that the cascade treatment of 95-95-95 was a global target and NAC aimed to reach 95 per cent of PNG’s population being tested, 95 per cent to be on the Antiretroviral Therapy who were tested positive and 95 per cent on virally suppressed where the infection was under control and the patient was on a daily dose.
Tangoh believed that in the near future, the rate of the HIV/AIDS cases would decrease as the cascade of PNG was 70-87-87 and there was still four more years left to achieve the goal.
“Through the assistance and cooperation of the Government, churches, media organisations and non-government organisations in doing continuous awareness about HIV/AIDS, I believe there will be a great change in the rate of HIV/AIDS cases and infected men will get the courage to be tested,” said Tangoh.