HIV AIDS in Papua

Calvary Hospital sees about 20 to 30 patients a day, half of them usually follow-ups. At least one new case of HIV infection or AIDS is diagnosed each day the clinic is open. Just in July there have been infected babies, a girl of fourteen, and a man in his mid-fifties.  The majority are between the ages of 16 and 30.  All are offered ongoing counseling and care for their illnesses, but many do not return for follow-up, and locals say they are returning to their villages to die. 

Many of the HIV patients are coming from fairly remote villages.  Infected young people from the city return to their villages only to infect others. If this trend continues, and some patients continue to return for follow-up care, our small facility will be quickly overwhelmed with HIV patients to the exclusion of patients with other serious illnesses.

Medical anthropologist, Dr. Leslie Butt has worked in Papua for over ten years, and she estimates the prevalence of HIV infection at “close to three out of 100 persons in West Papua....” She compares this  by saying, “around one out of 4000 persons in the rest of Indonesia may be HIV-positive.”  (Leslie Butt, AIDS in West Papua: Top Ten Reasons to Worry, February 28, 2006)

An important study by AusAID in Feb. 2006 estimates over seven percent of Papuans will be infected by the year 2025, and 27% of public hospital beds will be filled by patients with AIDS.

When a new HIV patient is seen, and told of their diagnosis, the reaction is often something like “hmm, so what...”  When they are asked if they have heard of HIV or AIDS, the majority will say “yes.”  When the disease and its ramifications are explained to them, they start to get the idea that maybe this is important.  It isn't until they start asking questions themselves, often not until their second visit, that the tears begin to flow and they fully realize the implications of this diagnosis.  Some never reach that stage, and they leave quickly without asking questions or arranging follow up, presumably to pretend this terrible day never happened.  The people of highlands Papua are hearing about AIDS, but they are not assimilating what they hear in any meaningful way.  They hear the words, but have no idea what this actually means to them personally, or how it might affect their life-style.

The Calvary staff are receiving training in how to counsel and witness to these patients, sharing with them Christ's forgiveness, compassion and love.