HIV/AIDS cases in the country has increased by more than 100 a month for the past 14 months, prompting the Department of Health (DOH) to reiterate its call against complacency towards the disease.
A report by the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center showed that last January alone, a total of 152 new HIV/AIDS cases were registered, six percent higher than the 143 cases recorded in January 2010.
This brought to 6,617 the total number of HIV cases in the country since January 1984. Of the number, 886 have developed into AIDS.
Dr. Gerard Belimac, DOH program manager for DOH’s National AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Control Program, said there are many reasons for the rising number of HIV cases in the Philippines.
“They are multi-factorial. Treatment and screening facilities may be more available now than before, so we see more cases,” Belimac said.
But he noted that HIV/AIDS is a “behavioral disease that requires behavioral change to control.”
“You cannot change people’s behavior easily. You cannot impose on them. Programs need sustainability and the support of all sectors of society.”
Belimac has urged private organizations to help the government in its education campaign to discourage the public from “risk-taking behavior” that may expose them to the AIDS virus. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
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!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
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
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
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
