A report by UNICEF indicates Papua New Guinea has the highest proportion of adolescents living with HIV, almost 10 per cent of total people living with the virus.
The Post Courier reports that PNG is matched only by the Philippines.
They are among ten countries which account for 98 per cent of adolescents aged 10-19 living with HIV in the Asia-Pacific.
The other countries are: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The report describes the region as facing a 'hidden epidemic' of HIV among adolescents, with an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections among adolescents aged 15-19 in 2014, accounting for 15 per cent of new infections.
These findings come in a new report, Adolescents: Under the Radar in the Asia-Pacific AIDS Response, by the Asia-Pacific Inter-Agency Task Team on Young Key Populations, which includes UNICEF, UNAIDS and others.
A woman walks past an AIDS billboard in PNG Photo: AFP