Papua New Guinea recorded its worst ever number of HIV infections in 2022, and is bracing for even higher figures when data for 2023 is released.
The National Aids Council Secretariat's acting director Tony Lupiwa said in 2022 PNG had a record 6500 cases or about 18 new HIV infections each day.
He said there were a number of factors.
"A lack of awareness. I think there's not much prevention messaging going out to the populations. Suddenly, the health promotion part of HIV went down when we had budget cuts, and there hasn't been much awareness," Lupiwa said.
"Other preventative measures that used to happen before they suddenly stopped because of financial issues.
"So nothing went on air, nothing went on newspapers, nothing went on radio, and I think people thought 'Ok, HIV is gone. There's no messages anymore about HIV'.
"Because there's nothing going out to the communities telling them to protect themselves, people are going back to doing the risky behaviour and all that," he said.
In the early part of this century, HIV infections was a major concern in PNG.
At one point it was the leading cause of hospitalisations but many victims had to fare for themselves in rural areas where they were often ostracised by families and the community.
The then Minister of Community Affairs Dame Carol Kidu told RNZ International that entire villages had succumbed to the virus.
But with significant input from international and local agencies the HIV spread was brought under control - until Covid hit.
Lupiwa said his agency was not able to do what the government had set it up to do because it did not have the necessary funding.
But he is hoping they will now be provided with the resources they need.
He said council was fearful about what had happened over the past year or so, with the national election in 2022 likely to have been a major driver of more infections, because that was what had happened after previous polls.
"And usually during national elections, people leave home and they are in campaign houses and away from home and having sex with other partners.
"Usually after the elections, we see increasing STIs, including HIV, and we are expecting a bigger number [of HIV infections] when it comes to our statistics for 2023, which we will be releasing soon."
RNZ.
