The National AIDS Council of Papua New Guinea says budget cuts are behind a critical shortage of anti-retroviral drugs in the country and there is no immediate solution to the problem.
An advocacy group for people living with HIV in PNG says it received this advice from the head of the council at a forum last week in Port Moresby where concerns about the shortage were discussed.
Anti-retroviral medication does not kill or cure HIV but can prevent the growth of the virus.
There are around 50,000 people living with HIV in PNG and some of them have been on ART treatment for more than a decade.
A spokesperson for the Key Population Partnership Network Consortium, Lesley Bola, told Koroi Hawkins the shortage is causing a lot of angst in the community.
Oil Search-sponsored HIV AIDS awareness message in Papua New Guinea's Highlands.
Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
Transcript
LESLEY BOLA: The only information we have got was that there was just three months of supplies.
KOROI HAWKINS: Right.
LB: So three months of supplies was actually the type of medication that you store away.
KH:So that's supposed to only be for emergencies?
LB: Yeah. So now the government is eating into those supplies.
KH: You called a forum yesterday so did they explain what their plan was?
LB: The main reason why we had a forum was for the MOH to come and explain about it and we wanted to know about information re how many supplies they had but unfortunately the MOH weren't able to make it. But we were fortunate that the Dept of National Aids Council, they have a new director who previously worked at the Health Department so he was able to give us some insights into whats happening, the challenges the DOH has around this.
KH: And what were some of those challenges?
LB: They cut the funding for most of the departments and that is a major challenge for departments at the moment.
KH: And are there or do they have contingency plans? How will they address this issue?
LB: Well that's one of the outcomes, what I wanted to ask them whether there was a plan and we didnt' get any concrete answers but we wanted to get something more concrete.
KH: Are you planning another meeting with Health? Just by yourselves or with the executive?
LB: Because we got some inside information around the logistics around the supplies and financial situation, we decided to stick together and with the working group we would stick together and with the information received yesterday we were going to make an action plan on making an appointment with the secretary of health or even the minister to bring our concerns. Our concern is with the contingency plans.
KH: Are people worried?
LB: Especially people with HIV yes they are worried about their future and we have had a few people very outspoken about how they worry about what is going to happen to them.
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