Review outdated HIV/AIDS Management Act

HEALTH Minister Michael Malabang and Health Secretary Pascoe Kase were very vocal on the government funding of the ART drugs since 2010, which was regarded as the world best practice.
However, the Government must know that one of the leading and silent contributing factors of HIV transmission is the intentional transmission of HIV, especially by a person with the virus to another who does not know and get to walk away peacefully after that.
The HIV/AIDS Management and Prevention (HAMP) Act 2003 was drafted in such a way to protect people with HIV.
The particular provision of the code prescribes a penalty of three years for such a crime.
Also the Act prescribed that it is an act of unlawful killing and incurs penalties prescribed under Section 298 of the Criminal Code.
I think the provision is too lenient as any intentional transmission is a virtual death sentence because there is no cure for the virus.
This particular provision needs to be amended or removed.
We need improved efficiency of criminal justice systems in investigating and prosecuting such sexual offences against innocent women and men through concrete legislation, programmes and services.
From the report, the HIV prevalence rate is still the highest in the Oceania region but the government is saying; continuous funding on ART is one of the prevention efforts of HIV from spreading.
However, most of the people who are HIV positive knowingly go around trapping adulterous married women, single mothers and girls/ boys exchanging money or goods for sexual pleasure.
This is the trend we are headed to; what I refer as sexual manslaughter. It is our responsibility to demand stricter punishments for those specific people who knowingly and purposefully spread potentially deadly disease.
We cannot wait because AIDS has grown to monstrous levels in our community is blindly obvious.
I call on the Health and HIV/AIDS Minister to review the HAMP ACT 2003 and increase harsher penalty for people who are intentionally transmitting the HIV virus.
The government must review the Act and also strengthen and enforce laws against people who knowingly spread HIV to women or men. Under the criminal law a person with HIV is criminally liable for prosecution if they have intentionally transmitted the virus to their partner without informing them of their status.
I have seen and heard of far too many people and stories everywhere in my province on this situation.
There was a women in my village announced that scores of men both young and old would follow her because she had given the virus to them.
The future course of the epidemic depends on the efforts mounted today to prevent HIV infection among young people.

Jack Atte Kapa
Dumun, Chimbu