Port Moresby (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church is in front line to fight the scourge of AIDS in Papua New Guinea. There is a spreading epidemic of HIV/AIDS which concerns doctors, scientists and civil and religious authorities. The government of PNG announced that already 15,000 of the population of 5.7 million have AIDS. And this calls for better healthcare structures and specialised centres to fight and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Catholic hospitals offer a valuable contribution in this field. Recently Caritas Australia launched a programme and supplied funds to render operative three new anti-Aids centres. The Caritas programme includes training of specialised medical personnel and nurses, supplying medicine and equipment, caring for patients at the different stages.
The five year programme aims to develop resources locally to render the country self-supporting in the fight against AIDS.
Last year the PNG Catholic Bishops’ Conference launched a campaign “Born to live”, to fight and prevent AIDS.
In Papua New Guinea 80% of the people live in rural, mountain or forest areas and are not informed about AIDS. In the hospital in Port Moresby the capital, AIDS is the main cause of death. The virus strikes mainly men and in 90% of the cases the virus is transmitted heterosexually; 8% from parents to children. The age group 15 to 34 is the most affected
Missionaries in the country say “better living conditions solved many of the problems here but it also brought new ones, hitherto unknown to the local people: drug and alcohol abuse, AIDS, consumerism, corruption, growing social gap between rich and poor”.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 29/11/2004 righe 22 parole 245)