HIV declared a national crisis
PNG has long had the highest HIV/AIDS incidence and prevalence in the Pacific region, accounting for
95% of the reported HIV/AIDS cases in the region in 2010 (Pham et al 2022). The number of new cases has
reached record levels in recent years (Radio New Zealand 2024). In response to this increase in infections,
the PNG Minister for Health, the Hon. Elias Kapavore, declared HIV to be a national crisis in June 2025
(UNAIDS Asia Pacific 2025).
The most recent surveillance data reveal that the estimated number of new infections has doubled since
2010, with approximately 30 new infections occurring every day – as presented in Table 1, this amounted to
an estimated 11,000 new cases in 2024 (UNAIDS Asia Pacific 2025). Of particular concern is the continued
high rate of vertical (mother-to-child) transmission – an estimated seven babies per day. Nearly half of all
new cases are among people aged 24 and younger. As the Minister noted in the declaration:
HIV is a disease of inequality. We need to support and empower those
most impacted. It is time for all of us to step-up. I personally commit to
raising this issue with my fellow ministers and parliamentarians and
ensuring the urgent allocation of resources to protect our people –
especially the next generation of Papua New Guineans.
(UNAIDS Asia Pacific 2025)
Tuberculosis and TB-HIV coinfection
Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are the leading causes of death from infectious diseases in PNG, and this
contrasts with ‘the global trend of declining infections and deaths from these diseases’ (Pham et al 2022).
The data show that many people in the country are dying from TB and HIV/AIDS at young ages, with the
two conditions responsible for 38 per cent of all deaths in the population aged 25 - 34 years (Pham et al
2022).
In addition, TB-HIV coinfections have increased, further complicating the effective implementation of TB
and HIV/AIDS programs in PNG (Pham et al 2022). There is a high level of social stigma around TB, and
discrimination against people living with HIV. These factors contribute to people’s reluctance to test and seek
care, and also to potential under-reporting (Pham et al 2022; Kairi 2023).
HIV and TB interventions and services are integrated into public health services at the local level under
the administration of Provincial Health Authorities. A new all-oral treatment regime for patients with
drug-resistant TB commenced in PNG in 2025, and it is hoped that, with more patients undertaking the
treatment, it could reduce the number of people living with, and transmitting, TB (Burnet Institute 2025b).