Report hails PNG for making strides in treatment coverage

A Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS report says Papua New Guinea has experienced a significant improvement in its HIV treatment coverage of 52 per cent (estimated 46,000) of people living with HIV accessing lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) medicine.
The Ending AIDS: Progress towards the 90-90-90 targets also found out that new HIV infections in PNG had increased by four per cent (about 2800) between 2014 and last year.
National AIDS programme manager Dr Nick Dala said the country had experienced a significant improvement in rolling out treatment services.
“This has led to a large increase in access to life-saving treatment, nearly 24,000 people were accessing ARVs in 2016, more than ever before,” Dala said.
He said the health system was facing difficulties in retaining people on life-long treatment, especially among key populations and in remote areas.