HIV cases seen to reach 46,000 by 2015

MANILA, Philippines –  The multi-sector Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) is expecting the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country to reach 46,000 by 2015 if no effective intervention measures will be implemented soon.

PNAC Secretariat executive director Dr. Ferchito Avelino said at present, there are five new HIV cases every day.

“It would be exponentially increasing so by 2015, the estimate is that we would have 46,000 cases,” he said in an interview, citing the estimates of the Department of Health’s (DOH) National Epidemiology Center.

Five years ago, the DOH said there were around 210 new cases annually. But from January to October this year, the DOH had registered some 1,500 new cases.

And from January 1984 to October 2010, the DOH had recorded a total of 5,729 cases, 852 of which have progressed into AIDS.

Last Friday night, the PNAC had a soft-launching of the 5th AIDS Medium Term Plan (AMTP-V), the blueprint of the country’s anti-HIV/AIDS programs for 2011-2016.

The AMTP-V contains methods to halt the spread of the AIDS virus in the sectors of men-having-sex-with-men (MSM) and injecting drug users who are now the primary contributors to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

It also recommends that intervention packages be in place for the “transgender and persons in prostitutions.”

Avelino added the government should have an infection control policy for these sectors to curb the rising trend.

He underscored the need for local leaders to implement effective anti-HIV/AIDS programs since they are the ones who could reach out to those at risk of being infected.

The AMTP-V calls for “improvements in the existing treatment, care and support packages in terms of coverage for the most at risk populations as well as for stronger advocacies to cause change in sexual behaviors.”

In a statement, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the “country’s threat of an HIV epidemic is more evident now than before” as shown by the “current epidemiological profile of HIV infection.”

“More are becoming infected. The 4th AMTP commenced in 2005 with one case reported every two days. This year, a Filipino is infected with HIV every five hours or five positive cases per day,” he revealed.

Ona added that “those infected are young and in their most productive years” ranging in age from 20 to 34 with median age of 27.

“HIV infection does not only have its impact on health but rather, it affects all aspects of human life. Through the years, we have seen the impact of the virus in our socio-developmental growth,” he said. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)