THIRTY new Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases are reported in Port Moresby daily with most victims being women and girls.
With a diagnosis of close to 11,000 cases per year and out of that 60 per cent are female according to Dr Nano Gideon, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) programme manager at the Health Department. Gideon said the Government had declared HIV last year as a national health crisis among other major illnesses and had pledged K15 million this year as part of the national programme.
United Nations resident coordinator Shalini Bahuguna highlighted the severe impact of the virus on families.
“The fact that we have 30 new infections, including seven babies born with HIV every day means the country must take these figures seriously,” she said.
Health authorities are now shifting their attention towards better protective health spaces.
Gideon stated that the Health Department was looking closely at how to venture into antenatal care.
This strategy aims to ensure that pregnant women and children are better cared for, and that girls out in the community are better served.
The country’s overall testing efforts have expanded heavily in recent years.
Health facilities managed to test 281,000 persons across 500 testing sites in 22 provinces in 2024.
This testing volume rose significantly to reach the 400,000-mark last year.
Health officials hope that introducing new innovations into the community space will increase testing to cover more than 600,000 individuals this year to ensure everyone can stay safe.
Health secretary Pascoe Kase said that too many people still did not know their HIV status and this continued to be one of the greatest barriers to accessing treatment, care and prevention services.
“If we are serious about reducing infections and improving health outcomes we must continue to find new ways to reach people earlier and more effectively,” Kase said.
