Papua New Guinea AIDS Committee Dismisses Report of
HIV-Positive People Being Buried Alive in Southern Highlands
Region

The AIDS Committee of Papua New Guinea's Southern Highlands
province has found no evidence that people living with HIV/AIDS
in the area were buried alive, committee Deputy Chair Jeffrey
Hurums announced recently, Papua New Guinea's the Nation reports
(Miae, Nation, 9/11). The committee launched an investigation
after the local media reported last month that HIV/AIDS advocate
Margaret Marabe, who works with the group Igat Hope, saw five
people buried alive because they were living with HIV/AIDS.
Marabe had spent five months carrying out an HIV/AIDS education
campaign in the Southern Highlands. "When they got very sick and
people could not look after them, they buried them," Marabe was
quoted as saying (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/28).The report
prompted the National AIDS Council Secretariat to conduct a
separate investigation in response to reaction from church
officials and nongovernmental organizations, including donors
and international agencies, according to the Nation. Hurums said
officers were sent into the Tari area of the Southern Highlands,
where the alleged incidents were reported, and found no evidence
of such crimes. He also said committee members are appealing to
their partners, stakeholders, NGOs, district AIDS committees,
and voluntary counseling and testing centers to consult them
before releasing any information to the media or other
organizations. The media report "sent wrong signals to everyone,
including the international community here and abroad, who are
funding" HIV/AIDS programs in the country, Hurums said (Nation,
9/11).