Medicinal plants used by traditional medicine practitioners for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and related conditions in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest burden of HIV/AIDS in the Pacific region. An estimated 33,000 people in PNG are currently living with HIV and Aids. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, patients have consulted both medical doctors and traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) for all kinds of physical and emotional ills. Access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs has been irregular, and is virtually non-existent in the rural areas of PNG. Moreover, resistance of opportunistic microbial pathogens to conventional medicines and the side effects associated with antiretroviral drugs are also a major drawback to the management of HIV/AIDS in the country. Due to these factors, many people opt to use of traditional medicines. Traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) use range of botanicals in the management of different opportunistic infections in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), namely antithrush, antifever, antidiarrhoea and antidysentery, anticough and anti-infective against various skin pathogens. In a pilot study conducted in the Oro and Milne Bay provinces of PNG it was established that traditional healers were indeed playing an important role in providing medical care and in alleviating suffering of PLHIV. Their main contribution was in improving quality of life by effectively treating many of the associated symptoms and helping patients regain energy and appetite. Conditions such as diarrhoea, skin infections, weight loss, sores and wounds were treated by selective administration of different herbal preparations. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted to record the various plant families, species, and plant parts used to manage different HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections.This presentation examines and provides an account of most commonly used herbs by TMPs in management of HIV/AIDS in PNG.