A Papua New Guinea MP says rural areas are becoming dumping grounds for people living with HIV/AIDS who are being neglected by relatives in urban centres.
An estimated 150 thousand people in PNG have the disease, and millions of dollars are being spent fighting it.
But Bulolo MP and member of the parliamentary committee on HIV/AIDS committee, Sam Basil, says the money is having little impact.
He says people contract the disease in urban areas, and are then taken home because their families can't care for them.
"The donor agencies that put money into HIV/AIDS, should hold back and think twice before putting money into PNG because the HIV/AIDS fight is not reaching the rural areas. And the rural areas are the worst ones, because people are being dumped back home one they catch the disease. So i think any agencies that are putting money into HIV/AIDS should really focus on rural PNG, not urban."
Sam Basil says he is planning to next year start a mobile programme, to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS in rural areas.
