SUVA, (RNZI) – A United Nations official says HIV infections in the Pacific are going down, but there’s still a long way to go.
The director of the Asia and Pacific region for UNAIDS, Steve Kraus, said Papua New Guinea still accounts for 95 percent of people living with the virus in the Pacific.
He said that throughout the Asia-Pacific region, 5 million people have HIV but overall new infections are declining.
Steve Kraus said people’s mobility contributes to the spread of the virus, but discrimination stops people from being tested.
“Among the other Pacific Islands, rates remain very low, most of the countries have either no or just a handful of cases each year, said Kraus.
“The one exception would of course be Papua New Guinea, which of course has around 37 thousand people living with HIV. We know that what we do over the next three, to four, to five years between now and 2020 is that we actually have to intensify are efforts.,” he said.
