Health official welcomes high HIV case report

AFTER seeing the highest number of cases reported in a month since 1984, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Sunday that it does not automatically mean that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the country are already alarming.

In a phone interview, DOH–National Aids/Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Control program manager Dr. Gerard Belimac said the increase in the number of HIV cases in the country does not necessarily translate to having more people engaging in risky behaviors.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

“Ang pagtaas ay somehow reflecting the increasing case detection services and the awareness of the people to really undergo testing,” said Belimac.

He said the increase could be attributed to the intensified HIV testing services of the DOH and several local government units (LGUs), especially in finding the 12,000 estimated people with HIV.

The DOH earlier said that it is estimating some 12,000 people in the Philippines to test positive of HIV come the year 2012.

“Hinahanap natin yun (12,000) by intensifying the HIV testing activities… (at the same time) Marami na talagang nagpa-patest at gusto malaman ang status nila,” Belimac said.

Last Friday, the DOH’s Philippine HIV and Aids Registry reported that there were 204 new cases reported for the month of July.

This was a 56 percent increase compared to the same period last year, which was 131, and the highest ever reported in a month.

The figure for July 2011 topped the previous record of 184 cases seen last May 2011.

In the same report, three have progressed into full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Aids) cases.

They were found to be all males and have acquired the disease through heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual contact, respectively.

It also noted that two Aids patients died last month but did not give details on the circumstances.

The report also showed that sexual contact remains to be the foremost mode of HIV transmission with 193.

Homosexual contact accounted for 88 of the sexually-transmitted cases while bisexual and heterosexual sex made up for 68 and 37 of the cases, respectively.
On the other hand, the “problematic” injecting drug users (IDUs) registered a total of 11.

To note, no less than Health Secretary Enrique Ona admitted that they find the IDU cases to be a complicated matter to handle since it involves “criminal” aspects.

Also, 40 of the new cases recorded were found to be overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), all of which acquired through sexual contact.

Among OFWs, heterosexual contact accounted for 15 of the sexually transmitted cases while homosexual and bisexual sex made up for 13 and 12 of the cases, respectively.

Given the new cases reported, there are now 1,220 reported HIV cases in the first seven months of 2011, including 27 full-blown Aids cases.

Since 1984, there have been a total of 7,235 HIV cases in the Philippines counting the 884 cases of Aids. (AMN/Sunnex)