UNAIDS singles out key groups

By OGIA MIAMEL
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says key populations in Papua New Guinea continue to be at high risk of contracting and spreading HIV.
The Ending AIDS: Progress towards the 90-90-90 targets outlined that apart from the four per cent increase of new HIV infections from 2014 and last year (about 28,000 new cases), key populations had a higher prevalence rate than the national prevalence.
“For many years, the country was considered to have a generalised epidemic and HIV programmes were designed to reach the entire population,” the report said.
“However, there are indications that similar to many other parts of Asia and the Pacific, Papua New Guinea may have a concentrated epidemic, where key populations are most at risk.”
A 2011 study conducted by the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research and Australia’s University of New South Wales found that among female, male and transgender individuals, who sold or transacted sex in Port Moresby, the unadjusted HIV prevalence was 17.6 per cent overall.
The report added that due to this finding, the Government commissioned a bio-behavioural study in the country’s three largest urban communities with significant technical and financial support from governments of Australia, United States, UNAIDS and other partners.
According to the National Aids Council Secretariat, the integral bio-behavioural study conducted in Port Moresby revealed a prevalence of 14.9 per cent amongst sex workers and 8.5 per cent among men who had sex with men and transgenders which was higher than the national HIV prevalence rate of 0.89 per cent with an estimated 46,000 persons living with HIV in the country.