Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

PNG NGO calls for more resources in rural areas

Posted at 22:32 on 21 July, 2008 UTC

An NGO worker in Papua New Guinea says aid agencies should spend more time and resources on preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in rural areas of the country.

The number of HIV/AIDS infections in PNG is one of the highest in the Pacific region and there has been a shift of infection rates from urban to rural areas more recently.

The project manager for the World Vision’s Madang Action against HIV/AIDS project, Yangga Teppe, says most organisations spend their aid money in urban areas, which leaves rural people extremely vulnerable.

“There’re a lot of other NGOs that duplicate their work with the urban areas, going to the same areas and duplicating and wasting money. They should go, how World Vision is doing right now, going to the rural villages, trying to do intervention in rural areas.”

Yangga Teppe says rural communities need more awareness about the spread of HIV/AIDS and better access to health care.