Country profiles on HIV/AIDS
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea declared a generalized epidemic in 2004. By that time, HIV prevalence reached one percent among women attended to by the Port Moresby General antenatal clinic, one of the very few that provided HIV counseling and testing at the time.
The most recent available antenatal care data from estimation and projection showed that HIV epidemic in PNG remained generalized. HIV prevalence in adults (15-49 years) was over one percent in Highlands and Southern Regions in 2009. An estimated number of 34 100 people were living with HIV as of 2009 and the adult HIV prevalence was estimated at 0.9 percent.
One of the very promising initiatives of the country response was an increase in the number of HIV testing facilities in PNG, from 12 testing sites in 2005 with 4000 people tested for HIV to 250 sites in 2009 with more than 123 000 tested for HIV.
The number of people on highly active antiretroviral therapy between 2006 and 2009 increased six-fold from 1098 to 6751 respectively. PNG is one of the few Western Pacific countries which have performed outstandingly in scaling up its testing and counseling, and care and treatment programme.
Core HIV and AIDS epidemic and response data
| Indicator | 2001 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| No. PLHIV | ||||
| Total | 10 000 | 54 000 | ||
| Adults | 9800 | 53 000 | ||
| Adults pre. % | 0.3 | 1.5 | ||
| Women (15+) | 3400 | 21 000 | ||
| Children < 15 years | <200 | 1100 | ||
| AIDS Death | ... | <1000 | ||
| HIV Pre. of MARPs | ||||
| IDU % | ||||
| FSW % | 5.9 | |||
| MSM % | ||||
| 4.3 | ||||
| No. people on ART | ||||
| Total | ||||
| 2300 | 5195 | 6751 | ||
| ART coverage % | 38 | 52(a) | ||
| No. pediatric patients on ART | 185 | 329 | 427 | |
| No. receiving ARV for PMTCT | 84 | 257 | 263 | |
| PMTCT coverage % | 4 | 13 | 13 | |
(a) Estimate based on 2010 WHO ART guideline.
Sources and notes:
- 2001 and 2007 data: UNAIDS/WHO 2008 Update: Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and AIDS.
- 2008 and 2009 data: WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF: Towards Universal Access: Scaling up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector, Progress Report 2009 and 2010.