Valentine Tangoh

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.

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.

Regional Manager for the National Aids Council Secretariat, Valentine Tangoh said this today at the First HIV Summit for PNG Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV and Aids.

Whilst presenting on the current prevalence case in PNG, he said that the Highlands region has a prevalence rate of more than 1% in HIV cases placing Enga Province as the leading province, followed by Morobe Province with 0.77%, NCD with 1.29% and Western Province with 1.1%.