National Aids Council Secretariat

NACS Launches Election IEC

The IEC posters were produced in partnership with the PNG Electoral Commission, under the theme; ‘My Country, My Right to Vote for a Healthy Nation’. The key messages around five main areas were:

1. Voting freely and fairly for a health nation,

2. Protection against STI, HIV and COVID-19,

3. Standing up and Speaking out against Stigma and Discrimination,

4. Standing up against all forms of Violence and Abuse,

5. Respecting the rights of others and promoting equal participation.

Reduced Funding Affects HIV Awareness

A data workshop was held today, Thursday, 25th November in Port Moresby to discuss key messages that need to go out to stakeholders and people around the country, in preparation for World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1st, 2021.

NAC Acting Director, Tony Lupiwa said HIV is here and is once again on the rise, with a prevalent rate of .9 percent and is increasing.

HIV election warning

Lapiwa said that in the past during elections men and women leave their normal lives and stay together at election venues where a lot of unprotected sex takes place.

Lupiwa said with the secretariat was not able to assist the provincial aids councils and other stakeholders in providing funding for prevention measures there is a greater risk of increase in cases of HIV.

He said it is more critical now with the emergence of the new Corona virus because those having HIV are at a higher risk and so prevention through awareness and advocacy is important.

AIDS Council Needs Funding

The Secretariat has a budget of K18 million but this has not been funded for the last three years and the reason is unknown.

In a media conference today, Acting Director of NACS, Tony Lupiwa express despair in the fight against HIV, because while the numbers are increasing daily the responsible organization is unable to stop the spread of the virus as it does not have funds for activities and logistics. 

AIDS Secretariat backs Tusbab Stallions

NACS Advocacy and mobilisation manager, Valentine Tangoh, when presenting the jerseys said the organisation is proud to have Tusbab Stallions on board as one of its partners in spreading the information on HIV and advocating for gender equality.

Tangoh said this is a young club and they are proud to invest in its development.

“Our statistics indicated that more young people, aged between 15 and 40, are infected by HIV and that is the active age group which you are in,” Tangoh said.

PNG Games: AIDS council conducts awareness

With the assistance of former WNB Provincial AIDS Committee (PAC), stalls for awareness and free HIV testing were set up.

Other health and social awareness include the PNG Cancer Foundation awareness and a new local organisation called the Male Advocacy Network (MAN), which promotes a fair, safe, healthy and wiser, violence-free community.

This initiative sets out to encourage men to step up and address violence by changing their attitude towards girls and women, beginning from their own home.

HIV risk higher: Women with violent partners

This was revealed by the regional manager for the National AIDS Council Secretariat, Valentine Tangoh.

He said violent men tend to have multiple sexual partners and do not often use condoms.

“Gender-based violence is a major driver of HIV in women. It affects the ability of women and girls to protect themselves from HIV or prevent unintended pregnancies or access HIV preventing services,” said Tangoh.

He stated that the traditional perception of masculinity enables and openly encourages men to dominate sexual decision-making.

Why you need to know of ‘key populations’

The National AIDS Council Secretariat, in partnership with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), held a media sensitisation workshop to sensitise the media about reporting issues affecting key populations in communities.

Key populations include people living with HIV. In most settings, this refers to men who have sex with men, transgender persons, people who inject drugs and sex workers. These people are more exposed to HIV than others.

​PNG tops Pacific's HIV prevalence list

It is also estimated that there are 47,795 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in PNG.

Of these, 2,800 people are estimated to suffer new infections for this year alone (2017), of which one quarter are children and young people.

Regional manager for the National AIDS Council Secretariat, Valentine Tangoh, stated this during the Media Sensitisation Workshop in Port Moresby yesterday.

Media sensitisation workshop hosted

The purpose of the workshop is to aid the media, in partnership with civil society organisations, to report sensitive issues affecting key populations in communities.