Responding to Crisis: Evaluation of the Australian Aid Program's Contribution to the National HIV Response in Papua New Guinea, 2006–2010

HIV remains one of the major development challenges in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The country has the largest epidemic in the Pacific. In 2009 it had an estimated 34,100 people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which is 0.92 per cent of the adult population.

The Australian aid program has a long history of support to the HIV response in PNG. Total funding for a series of programs between 1995 and 2010 was approximately $250 million. Australia remains the lead partner in the HIV response, a role agreed upon with the other partners in the early 2000s. The scale of Australian support has increased steadily over the past ten years, from $1.8 million in 2000 to $47 million in 2010. In that year, Australian Government funding represented 76 per cent of the total funding for the HIV response, with the remainder provided by the Papua New Guinea Government and other donors.