UN report blames unprotected sex for rising HIV cases in the country

The number of Filipinos affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has dramatically increased since the turn of the millennium, the United Nations Development Program reported Wednesday.

HIV is a lentivirus that can lead to an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome that can precede life-threatening infections.

The UN described the Philippine HIV situation as hidden and alarming, citing reports from the Department of Health and the World Health Organization that revealed steep rise in new HIV infections in the country in the last three years, with 59 recorded in March 2009 alone.

Worse, the Philippines welcomed the year with 65 new cases in January, the highest ever recorded in the country since it uncovered its first HIV case in 1984.

Moreover, the country doubled its average of new HIV cases in a month in 2008, recording an average of 44 new cases monthly compared with 20 a month in 2000. As a result, there could be 7,490 Filipinos living with HIV in 2007, up from the around 6,000 in 2002.

According to the recent UN General Assembly Special Session Declaration of Commitment on HIV-AIDS 2008, the statistics on the spread of HIV in the Philippines did not come as a surprise as all the main ingredients for an epidemic are present in the country.

The report noted that HIV transmission through unprotected sex accounted for 89 percent of the cases. Additionally, while reported heterosexual contact decreased from 193 in 2006 to 160 in 2008, male-to-male homosexual contact rose to 215 from 81 and male-to-male bisexual contact increased to 127 from 26.

Condom use among the most at risk population, according to reports, also remains below the universal access target of 90 percent. The 3rd AIDS Medium Term Plan of the Philippine National Aids Council also found out that only 18 out of 48 localities identified as highly vulnerable, including Metro Manila, had preventive measures.

 Those most exposed to the risk of having infected with HIV, according to the report, includes female sex workers, male clients, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, out of school youth street children and Overseas Filipino Workers, which account for 33 percent of the HIV cases since 1984.

“With one of every three people living with HIV being an OFW, the vulnerabilities related to unsafe migration and mobility call for responses that address the entire spectrum of migration, from departure to post-arrival,” the report said.

If the situation would not improve, the Philippines would not be in a good position to meet the Millennium Development Goal no. 6, which is to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Renaud Meyer, the UNDP Country Director for the Philippines conceded that recent developments could affect the Philippines’ bid in meeting the MDG targets.

“When we had the Medium Term Development Progress of the MDGS for the Philippines in 2005, we are on track to meet the goal. But it has been almost six years since then, and the present situation is not promising,” Meyer said at the launch of three-year, US$1.2 million worth of program titled “Promoting Leadership and Mitigating the Negative Impacts of HIV and AIDS on Human Development” held at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City.

Meyer, however, clarified that “the more imminent issue here is not if we are on track on not since one can be on track… what we do need in fighting HIV/ AIDS is constant action, with the help of the government and non-government sectors.”

For her part, RP’s UNAIDS Country Coordinator Teresa Marie Bagasao noted that in fighting HIV, people should know the epidemic “in order to focus our response where it is most needed and where can it have the most impact.”

 “Knowing one’s epidemic is not just about who and where the infections are happening, but also in understanding the dynamics of the epidemic,” she said in closing.
–Llanesca T. Panti, Manila Times