New HIV cases hit record high in May

MANILA, Philippines – New cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the country reached an all-time high in May, a party-list lawmaker said Thursday.

Citing National HIV/AIDS Registry statistics, LPG/MA Rep. Arnel Ty said a total of 184 Filipinos tested positive for HIV last May, up 20% from the 153 cases recorded in the same month last year.

Of the 184 new cases, 169 were males and 15 were females. The figure also included 30 overseas Filipino workers and 96 people from Metro Manila.

One AIDS patient died in May, bringing to 325 the total number of deaths in the country since 1984.

“The new cases in May were the highest ever passively spotted in a month,” Ty said in a statement.

The Department of Health has listed 6,853 Filipinos in the National HIV and AIDS Registry, and 838 new cases from January to May this year.

Ty pushed for a congressional review of the 1998 AIDS Prevention and Control Law to find new ways to reinforce the fight against HIV-AIDS.

“We need more aggressive measures to quickly bring the HIV epidemic under control, and to improve the conditions of the growing number of Filipinos living with the disease,” he said.

The Philippine National AIDS Council earlier warned that the number of HIV cases in the country could hit 46,000 by 2015 unless effective strategies are put in place to check the spread of the disease. –abs-cbnNEWS.com