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• Title: Introduction: HIV and AIDS in Rural Papua New Guinea (Report) (Survey)
• Author : Oceania
• Release Date : January 01, 2007
• Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 199 KB

Description

In late 2004, we were in the peri-urban centre of Balimo in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea where we have been conducting fieldwork for eleven years: Charles initiated a male-only survey on condom use and Alison was interviewing groups of women in the Balimo area about their perceptions and experiences of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome). In the context of these surveys and interviews, various issues about HIV and AIDS came to the fore, the details of which form the basis of our papers in this collection. Some comments, however, seemed particularly representative of the dilemmas that many rural Papua New Guineans face as they come to terms with the epidemic of HIV/AIDS: Charles' condom survey, for example, recorded much speculation about the transmission of HIV among men, some respondents listing methods of transmission including 'mosquitos sucking blood and transferring the virus' and 'sharing things, clothes, underpants, cup, spoon, food, smokes, toothbrush', to 'using the same toilet, hugging, kissing [and] sores in the mouth' (Wilde 2005:19). And whilst 112 out of 114 respondents also nominated 'sex' as the primary form of transmission, 23 of these men were convinced that HIV could only be transferred after serial sexual encounters with the same partner rather than during one sexual encounter. In a women's Christian Fellowship group, many agreed vigorously when one woman argued against the use of condoms as the platform for prevention of the spread of HIV, stating that 'when God created man, he gave them [sexual] organs, and [told them] not to put other things [like condoms] on them'. Another noted that 'our mothers didn't know this sickness [AIDS]. When the sickness came, they introduced the condom: so all the ladies are living in fear of their husbands going away [to work] and coming back wanting to wear condoms'. Condoms, their use and role in preventative programs such as ABC--practice Abstinence, Be faithful within marriage, and use Condoms--which forms the basis of public health platforms in PNG, are the source of much debate, vitriol and even fear, as we see above. The National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS), formed by an Act of Parliament in 1997, has established a program for the prevention of the spread of HIV in the country's towns and villages that promotes the use of condoms during sexual liaisons and long-term relationships, but emphasises the former two practices: that is, being faithful to a partner, thereby promoting monogamous sexual relationships, or practising sexual abstinence. The NACS' slogan Lukautim yu yet long AIDS, 'protect yourself against AIDS', placed on billboards in the towns and cities, caps, and t-shirts as well as posters promoting the use of condoms through sporting heroes, for example, has been one of the major catchcrys of the national campaign. But how do people protect themselves from AIDS when methods of HIV transmission are the source of much speculation and trepidation: is this virus passed through sexual encounters, hugging or kissing, or through sharing utensils or clothing or sitting in the space of another? How can its spread be prevented and what part do condoms, for example, play in this process? In many ways, these papers address the extent to which these national programs have had an impact on people in rural communities, who, in general, travel little to urban centres outside their area or province and whose sources of information about HIV and AIDS include locally organised Church fellowship groups, school presentations, newspapers, radio and workshops organised by health centre staff such as information disseminated on World AIDS Day each year.

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