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MP study tour explores reproductive health and poverty links

28 March 2006

Three New Zealand MPs are visiting Papua New Guinea in April on a study tour focusing on poverty in the Pacific, and related issues including HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, maternal and child health, and the environment.  

The delegation will be led by Steve Chadwick, Chair of the cross-party New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD). Joining her will be NZPPD Vice-Chair Dr Paul Hutchison (National), NZPPD member Tim Barnett, and media.  

Organised by the New Zealand Family Planning Association’s international development unit (FPAID), the week-long tour begins on 8 April, and will include meetings with officials and organisations working with communities in Port Moresby and Lae.

Ms Chadwick said HIV/AIDS and its links to women’s and children’s health and violence will be a key issue the group will look at due to its prevalence in the Pacific region increasing rapidly and posing a major threat to development.

Latest official figures place the number of people in the Pacific living with HIV/AIDS at around 13,000, but it is widely accepted that the actual figure is ten times higher. The highest reported rates in the region are in PNG – 11,852 in 2005 – and urgent action is needed there to avoid an Africa-type pandemic, Ms Chadwick said.

“Greater public knowledge, understanding and commitment are vital to prevent, reduce the spread of and minimise the impact of HIV in the Pacific, and this is one of the key aims of the study tour,” Ms Chadwick said.

“A greater understanding is also needed of not just the personal tragedy of HIV/AIDS, but the economic cost. A recent Australian study in PNG has predicted that the county could lose nearly half of its labour force to the pandemic.”

Maternal and child health are also key issues of concern, Ms Chadwick said.

In rural PNG, one in 18 women dies from complications associated with childbirth and pregnancy, and nearly one in 10 children in PNG dies before their fifth birthday. In New Zealand, the lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes is 1 in 6000, and under-five mortality is about 6 per 1000.

Ms Chadwick said the visit will also provide an opportunity to develop the relationship between New Zealand and Pacific MPs who share a commitment to addressing issues of poverty in the region. While in Port Moresby, the delegation will meet PNG’s only woman MP, Dame Carol Kidu, who is also Minister of Community Development, and the Minister assisting the Prime Minister of HIV/AIDS, Hon Dr Puka Temu.

The study tour has been funded by the Asia Pacific Alliance for the International Conference on Population and Development (APA/ICPD).  APA/ICPD is a network of population, development and environmental non-governmental organisations, as well as official development assistance representatives from Pacific Rim donor countries, whose goal is to strengthen cooperation among non-governmental organisations, governments, and related organisations that are committed to population, reproductive health, sustainable development, and other objectives agreed in the ICPD Programme of Action the Millennium Development Goals.

ENDS

Did you know that every minute around the world...
•	one woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
•	10 teenage girls undergo an unsafe abortion.
•	13 infants under 12 months die
•	57 people catch an STI
•	11 people are infected with HIV
•	the population increases by 150 people

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