The rate of HIV/AIDS among children under five in Papua New Guinea's Morobe province doubled last year and authorities expect infection rates to be even higher this year.
A regional medical officer Elsie Ryan told the Post-Courier that, in 2014, 24 cases were recorded compared to eleven the previous year.
Dr Ryan described the statistics as disturbing, saying there was a need to re-evaluate a programme aimed at preventing mothers passing on the disease to their unborn babies.
She said health officers had failed to provide the required treatment to mother and child on time.
Dr Ryan said there were countless instances of mothers neglecting their own treatment and others not taking their children in for treatment.
The Post Courier reports the Morobe Provincial AIDS Committee is trying to get assistance from the provincial government and other corporate bodies to deal with the issue.
