Islands Business - Politics/ PNG: CLINTON'S WORDS OF WISDOM TO PNG

'Move forward from denial-embrace and educate'

Euralia Paine
Former United States President Bill Clinton's visit to Papua New Guinea on December 3 was brief. Only 20 hours in fact. Twelve of those were spent resting in a suite at the Airways Hotel in Port Moresby. Exactly one hour was the length of time spent on formalities at the National Parliament in Waigani. The message from the former President was equally short, but succinct: 'Move forward from denial-embrace and educate'.

This is for you, Sir... Clinton was made PNG's Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (Bird of Paradise in Motu lingua franca), the highest honour under the national honours system. Photo: Rocky Roe.

Clinton was speaking to Papua New Guineans about the HIV/AIDS epidemic on his first ever visit to this part of the world.

He had arrived at the invitation of Prime Minister, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare who met him in New York at the second annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in September last year.

President Clinton's visit to this Pacific island nation during the National AIDS Week was quite significant. It boosted the profile of awareness on HIV/AIDS in the country and formally launched the nationwide campaign for Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT).

VCT is a process that involves both counselling and testing to tell people if they are infected with HIV. This initiative is aimed at getting everybody in the entire country to know their status and the service is now available in most provinces.

Before 2004 most people in Papua New Guinea tested for HIV were either sick, hospitalised or were accessing services such as ante-natal or sexually transmitted disease and tuberculosis treatment.

In 2004, the National AIDS Council with the support of the National HIV/AIDS Support Project developed the first community-based VCT services. This meant that people could be tested for HIV without going to a health facility. Now there are over 20 community based sites including church agencies, where people can be tested for HIV across Papua New Guinea.

The nationwide VCT campaign is the latest vehicle in a fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in PNG. In a country of over 5 million people, this is an enormous challenge.

Currently, there are an estimated 100,000 people living with AIDS. At the end of March last year, 15,586 people were confirmed with the virus. Only 800 were on anti-retroviral drugs. It is also estimated that perhaps 1200 children are born HIV positive every year.

According to the National AIDS Council's March Quarterly Report for 2006, the number of new HIV cases detected is not growing exponentially and has slowed down in the last few years.

"The annual increase rates in the late 1990s was about 90 percent compared to 25 percent in the last five years; and in 2005, the rate of increase was only 15 percent," the report stated.

During his visit to Papua New Guinea, President Clinton signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Somare which will enable the Clinton Foundation to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and diagnostics for adults and especially children affected by the AIDS virus in PNG. The Clinton Foundation, Papua New Guinea's Department of Health, and the National AIDS Council of PNG have identified areas in which the three groups can work together to improve and expand care and treatment for people living with AIDS.

These include:-

Laboratory infrastructure and training of staff, development of Standard Operating Procedures;
Procurement and supply management for HIV-related materials;
Supporting the government as it extends medical services to the rural majority;
Strengthening monitoring and co-ordination, so that all the agencies are fully informed;
Training of every grade of health worker to provide successful care for those living with HIV/AIDS; and
Putting as many women and children as possible on AIDS-related treatment.

At the signing of the MOU, Somare expressed his appreciation to President Clinton for making time in his busy schedule to visit Papua New Guinea briefly.

Somare told the 200 plus guests that children who traditionally brought great joy to families, often found themselves being abandoned and desperately needing care and treatment because of HIV/AIDS.

"We have a beautiful and hospitable country, and are blessed with valuable resources, the most important being our children. And we sincerely thank you for the concern and assistance extended to Papua New Guinea through your Foundation," Somare said.

"Your signature of the MOU shows your willingness to help us in the most practical way, in a sensitive area of public health. You are helping us to help those infected including the most vulnerable, our children, who have contracted the HIV/AIDS virus.

"Papua New Guinea is a nation of many tribes whose cultures in the past have provided a safety net for those who are orphaned, sick or aging. With the arrival of this 'new virus', fear has turned families and relatives away from supporting their loved ones," Somare added.

Somare assured Clinton that the work of the Clinton Foundation would have the full support of the government and people of PNG.

Clinton stressed the need for countries affected by HIV/AIDS to show political leadership in taking on the challenge unreservedly as the epidemic was now far more than just a public health issue.

He said the fight against HIV/AIDS would only work if "leaders set a good example and see this (problem) with a clear eye".

He called on leaders to cease denying that HIV/AIDS is a problem and embrace the fact that it is detrimental to nation-building and move forward with education and preventative measures to fight the epidemic.

"There is no vaccine and no cure for HIV/AIDS. But we know that it is 100 percent preventable," Clinton said.

"Forty million people in the world are infected by the virus. Over 60 percent of those are in Africa."

According to a recent report by the UN, Papua New Guinea is among the world's emerging crisis area. Clinton explained that in the world today 90 percent of the people with HIV do not know their status and "an overwhelming majority are completely innocent of what they are carrying. They do not know that they are infected".

He commended the PNG Government under the current leadership for sanctioning various initiatives to fight HIV/AIDS.

He encouraged the government to set the benchmark for other countries to follow through the VCT campaign which would indicate the status of the nation as a whole in relation to HIV/AIDS.

Clinton said PNG was small enough for everyone to know their HIV status.

"You can do a good thing here for the rest of the world to see," he said. "You should be a great inspiration for the region"

After presenting a 15-minute speech, Clinton walked down from the podium to meet several Papua New Guineans in the front row, some of whom were people living with HIV/AIDS.

In an earlier ceremony, Clinton was awarded an honorary title of "Chief" where he was made Papua New Guinea's Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (Bird of Paradise in Motu lingua franca), the highest honour under the national honours system.

The award was conferred by Somare on Clinton for the recognition of:

Outstanding leadership for the good of mankind during his two terms as President of the United States of America (1993-2001);
His commitment to the vital global fight against HIV/AIDS and other significant health and community challenges in developing countries; and
And his personal commitment and that of the Clinton Global Foundation to meeting the enormous challenges HIV/AIDS presents to Papua New Guinea.

The former president's response was brazenly warm, exuding vintage Clinton charisma. He conceded that Papua New Guinea had quite "a special place in my imagination" and left with a promise to return.