Transcript
TONY LUPIWA: But we are preparing in a big way to go out to do some more mass awareness and distribution of condoms to every corner of PNG because we have the elections coming up, starting two months from now. In the past we have had an increased number of cases after the elections because in election time people are moving into the areas where the intending candidates are and there's a lot of money, beer and drugs that results in unsafe sex. Take the message out to the people that HIV is still here and that everybody should take precautions during this national election, and if you are going to have sex, have safe sex with a condom. That sort of information will be going out.
JOHNNY BLADES: Are there any particular regions or provinces where the infection rate is worse compared to the rest of the country?
TL: The Highlands provinces have a greater number of people living with HIV. The PNG HIV category has now been downgraded to 'concentrated epidemic' and it's only in certain provinces among key populations. Key populations are those who are female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender and businessmen with money.
JB: It's not worsening as an overall problem in PNG, you think it's getting better.
TL: It's getting better, but there's still more to be done and we must not become complacent, we must continue to go out there and make that awareness and make the condom available to everyone in the community to have access to it. Not just condoms but also ART (anti-retroviral therapy) available to those who are living with HIV. We've got a goal, and that is 90 percent of people who are tested positive taking on ART. ART is anti-retroviral therapy.
JB: So that controls it?
TL: Yeah that controls it, that prevents people from dying early. They live a normal life and at the same time if their viral loads decrease down to an undetectable level then they don't transmit to their sexual partners.
JB: What's the current coverage of the ART? How many people who are infected have access to it?
TL: Yeah, currently it's about 55 percent of people on ART. So we're trying to reach that 90 percent. 90 percent coverage by 2020.
