PH is country with fastest growing HIV cases – UNAIDS

Updated October 21, 2019, 5:37 PM

By Joseph Pedrajas
The Philippines has been ranked as the country with the fastest growing number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases in the world, the Joint United Nations
Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) bared Monday.

(AFP / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

“We are the country with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world, not only in the Asia and the Pacific. In 2018 report, we’re now number 1 in the whole world,”
Dr. Louie Ocampo, UNAIDS Philippines country director, said in a talk held at the Manila Doctors Hospital in Manila.

The UN organization said it recorded about 13,384 new HIV infections by the end of 2018. The number, according to UNAIDS, is 203 percent higher than infections
recorded in 2010, with only about 4,419.

“[We are the] fastest growing in terms of growth rate comparing 2010 and 2018. But in terms of absolute number, we are still very low, [when compared to] African
countries,” he added.

The UNAIDS estimated that there are now about 77,000 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Philippines. However, only about 62,029 of them have been diagnosed
and reported.

“We’re lagging behind in terms of diagnosing [PLHIV], so we’re still missing around 15,000 people who are not [yet] detected or who are not [yet] diagnosed,” he said.

According to a DOH report, the UNAIDS said that the National Capital Region (NCR) recorded the highest number of HIV cases – about 39 percent of the total PLHIV
population.

NCR is followed by Region 4-A, with 15 percent; and Region 7, with 9 percent.

A DOH report in 2019 also added that there were about 1,200 cases of AIDS-related deaths.

The percentage of HIV spread caused by male-to-male sex in 1984 to 2009 increased in 2010 to 2017, according to UNAIDS. From only 40 percent in the first wave of
epidemic, 80 percent of PLHIV population was spread due to male-to-male sex in the second wave.

The cause of HIV spread is followed by male-to-female sex, and then sharing of infected needles, the organization added.

Among the PLHIV, the organization bared that, 80 percent of them are from younger age groups. More than 19,000 people aged 15 to 24 tested positive for HIV, while
there were more than 34,500 aged 25 to 34 who tested positive.

“If you combine the 15 to 24 and the 25 to 34 age groups, that would comprise 80 percent PLHIV, meaning our epidemic demographics is getting younger and
younger,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo bared that such “is the reason the organization pushed for the amendment that would repeal the old AIDS law.”

“One major revision in the new AIDS law is the lowering of age consent of HIV testing,” he said.
But why HIV case is high among the youth?

Ocampo said that although condom is affordable yet “very effective in preventing HIV transmission,” about 50 percent of the youth aged 15 to 24 years old, particularly
men who had sexual intercourse with same men, disclosed that they do not use condom.

Some of the reasons these people do not usually use “condom were machismo, condom pricing, and because they did not think that they are at risk,” said Dr. Regina
Berba, HIV and AIDS Core Team of the Medical City.

Another reason, the UNAIDS added, is the consent for, and access to reproductive health services, including condom, starts at age 18.

Other factors that affect the HIV epidemic among the youth are: Low level of knowledge on how HIV is transmitted and prevented; existing laws are prohibitive; low
participation or engagement of the youth sector in policy-making; and lack of safe spaces, particularly adolescent health facilities.

The organization is targeting to lower the number of the HIV cases in the Philippines by 2020.

The UNAIDS said that it could be halted when “intensified comprehensive prevention, increase HIV testing and coverage, early initiation of treatment and adherence to
treatment” would be applied.

Meanwhile, Berba added that “our recommendations to help reverse the epidemic are 1. strengthen education of all youth; 2. impactful information to populations at
risk; 3. make HIV tests available; and 4. good HIV care.”

The UNAIDS stressed the importance of applying improved HIV interventions as the Philippines might reach 201,000 HIV infection cases in just eight years if the
country continues to rely on current interventions.
DOH sounds alarm over increasing HIV prevalence among young men
By Ma. Teresa Montemayor June 13, 2019, 6:11 pm

Share
HIV-AIDS AWARENESS. Ms. Mary Joy Morin, Technical Officer of the Department of Health, discusses updates on the implementation of the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Communication Plan for 2017-2020 and the LHIVE Free
Campaign using the Internet to disseminate information, held at Microtel, UP Technohub in Quezon City on Thursday (June 13, 2019). The event,
which was attended by different stakeholders, aims to raise awareness and help those affected by HIV/AIDS. (PNA photo by Rico H. Borja)

MANILA -- More young Filipino men are now being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Department of Health
(DOH) said Thursday.

In a solidarity conference in Quezon City, Mary Joy Morin, DOH Central Office National AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
and STI (sexually transmitted infection) Prevention and Control Program Officer, said around 65,463 cumulative cases have been
recorded from 1984 to March 2019 and the predominant mode of transmission is sexual contact.

This figure represents Filipinos who were tested and known to be HIV positive and 94 percent of them are males who have sex with
other males.

"About 50 percent of these males are aged 25 to 34 years old, meaning they are part of the productive age or workforce group while 31
percent are males aged 15 to 24 years old who are part of the younger population and still in learning institutions," she said.

She attributed the increase in the number of HIV cases among young Filipinos "to lack of education about safe sex, as many engage in
condom-less sexual contact among males".

"We are in fact the highest in HIV increase rate in the Asia Pacific region so the global community is keeping an eye on us but we're still
able to maintain the prevalence at one percent of the general population. Our country's goal is to maintain it at less than one percent
prevalence," she said, adding that 140 percent increase of HIV cases has been recorded by the DOH over the past 10 years.

Morin explained the Philippines is one of the few countries in the world with a growing HIV prevalence "compared to other countries
with rates already decreasing or stagnating".

While the DOH aims to educate the male population on safe sex, Morin said it is equally important to educate females who could also
have sexual contact with men having sex with men.

"These women can acquire the infection and get pregnant and transmit the infection to their infants so we need to educate them. We
are signatory to the global movement to end AIDS by 2030, so we adopted the 90-90-90 fast track strategies," she added.

These strategies aim at having 90 percent of people living with HIV tested and aware of their status, be enrolled in an anti-retroviral
therapy and be virally suppressed after treatment.

In connection with this, the government through Republic Act 11166 or the AIDS Policy Act of 2018 is conducting various HIV
prevention campaigns which include proper education, testing and treatment.

"We have expanded the HIV testing to 15 years old, and up to below 18 years old without parental consent and to young persons aged
below 15 who are pregnant or engaged in high risk behavior with the assistance of a licensed social worker," Morin said.

To prevent mother to child transmission of HIV, Morin said the act also mandates the "universal offering of voluntary HIV testing among
pregnant women".

"The DOH also offers rapid HIV diagnostic algorithm with same day test result and STI diagnosis and treatment, and offer condoms and
water-based lubricants especially if you engage in anal sex because condom use is not enough when it comes to anal sex. We also
give HIV prevention messages so that if you're HIV negative, you'll remain HIV negative," she said.

"No one will be left behind in terms of HIV education only if everybody will listen and learn, get tested, get treated and adhere to
treatment," she added. (PNA)
Despite new law, HIV cases rising

By: Jovic Yee - Reporter / @jovicyeeINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:18 AM July 17, 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Even before the nurse handed “Patrick” the results of his HIV test, he knew it would say that he had contracted the human
immunodeficiency virus.

He knew this was the consequence of the decision he made three months prior, when he agreed to have unprotected sex with his then longtime partner, who
was then already infected with HIV.

“I was blinded by love,” Patrick told the Inquirer when asked why he knowingly had unprotected sex.

He said that at that time, even if he was already working as a private nurse, his partner would badger and accuse him of seeing someone else because of his
partner’s condition.

In an effort to end all the doubts, he told his partner on that fateful night in 2017: “Infect me.”

“It was because of love,” Patrick declared. “I saw him as the person whom I was going to spend my lifetime with. I was ready at that time. I knew what I was
doing.”

Such risky sexual behavior was nothing new. It was evident as early as 2009, with a Department of Health (DOH) study finding that a high level of
understanding and knowledge of HIV did not necessarily translate to a strict adherence to safe sexual practices.

According to Dr. Ferchito Avelino, a focus group discussion conducted for the study showed that sexual attraction is one of the key factors that explain why
knowledge does not turn into action.

4,274 cases

In April, the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau saw 840 new infections in the Philippines, bringing this year’s total to 4,274 cases. The number is higher than the
3,226 and 2,471 cases recorded during the same periods in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The majority of those newly infected in April are men, comprising 94 percent of all cases. More than half of those newly diagnosed, or 475, contracted the
disease through male-to-male sex.

The number of rising cases has often been tied to the speed of finding, and accessibility of, sexual partners today due to social media and the abundance of
dating apps.

Since January 2014, the total reported number of people with HIV in the country has stood at 49,827. The DOH recorded in April that 37,091 are taking the
free antiretroviral medicine.

HIV epidemic

A viral infection, HIV attacks people’s immune system, making them susceptible to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. It can be transmitted
through sex with an infected person or sharing of needles.

The rate of new HIV infections has been a cause of concern among health officials, especially because the most recent report by the Joint United Nations
Program on HIV/AIDS showed that between 2010 and 2017, the HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region expanded the fastest in the Philippines, at 170
percent.

To deal with the HIV epidemic in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte signed early this year Republic Act No. 11166, or the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy
Act.

Apart from lowering the age of those who can have themselves tested from 18 to 15 years old, the law also ensures that vulnerable populations such as the
youth are better informed of their sexual health.