A 24-YEAR-OLD man who just graduated from a six-month vocational course is the latest to contract the dreaded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Cebu.
Jun (not his real name), who was set to work abroad, had approached Dr. Rene Joseff Bullecer, head of AIDS Free Philippines, to undergo an HIV test. He tested positive last Nov. 23 and is now undergoing a series of counseling.
Bullecer said Jun had confessed to him that he had had multiple sexual partners, both male and female. After testing positive for HIV, Jun will no longer be able to work abroad.
The latest HIV case in Cebu has worried Bullecer. He said the age of people contracting HIV is becoming younger and blamed this on declining moral values of young adults.
Out of the 41 cases recorded by AIDS Free Philippines, more than 70 are in their early 20s. The youngest is an 18-year-old male.
Bullecer said that most of the cases involved men engaging in sex with other men.
AIDS Free Philippines holds seminars about HIV for youths but remains adamant that condom use is not the solution to stopping the spread of the dreaded virus, which causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Bullecer said condoms do not offer 100 percent protection from the AIDS virus. He said that abstinence and being faithful remains the most effective solution against HIV.
“Show me any country that allows condoms and if their HIV cases went down,” Bullecer said.
The Cebu City Health Department has recorded 173 HIV cases from January to November 20 this year compared to only 16 HIV cases in the same period last year.
Dr. Ilya Tac-an said her office stopped distributing free syringes to drug users last September as part of their harm-reduction program but still promotes 100 percent condom use.
She said their surveillance has already ended, thus they discontinued the distribution of syringes. .
Free HIV tests are conducted by the City Health Department. There is still no known cure for Aids. –Cebu Daily News
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
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Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
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Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
