Arresting the spread of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea
through
Knowledge and Social Change (KASC)

Participatory Awareness raising and behavioural change
among the young

A joint initiative of the Divine Word University (DWU-Madang) and the UK-based PEGS
organisation in association with The Foundation for Development Corporation,
Australia

Project issues and outcomes from an integrated approach

The rapid ongoing spread of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea is a serious economic, medical, political and social problem not only for the concerned individuals and their families but also for the nation as a whole.The runaway spread of HIV/AIDS is now a burgeoning threat to the very existence of Papua New Guinea, and, unchecked, it will menace the whole Pacific area. It is already ripping the fabric of the country, striking virtually every sector of society and threatening to cripple the economy and what few resources there are left to confront it.

But the frightening reality is that the best efforts of government, NGO's and community groups are not making any measurable improvement.

Clearly, two crucial preventive avenues...learning from the harrowing experiences of others and knowing how to harness available resources..... have been barely explored.

1) PNG must draw upon the spiralling tragedy of Southern Africa, recognising and accepting it as a global teacher

2) PNG has to explore the relevant perceptions and belief systems of its own indigenous people. It's essential that their perceptions to the various HIV/AIDS awareness messages are analysed as a matter of urgency.Critically, that focus must include an evaluation of how they adapt their traditional beliefs and cultural norms to their fairly recent introduction to Western ways. This is the key to discovering how this is influencing their everyday sexual behaviour.