‘HIV-AIDS epidemic looms in Phl’

MANILA, Philippines – All of the necessary ingredients for an AIDS epidemic are present in the country, Sen. Miriam Defensor- Santiago said.

Santiago is worried that once a concentrated epidemic reaches the general population, it would be more difficult to control.

“With the current infection rate, around 1,500 Filipinos need to get into anti-retroviral treatment (ART)… this means that the country has to spend at least P45 million each year for the purchase of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for their life span,” she said.

She said that by 2015, the number of those who would need ART could reach 6,900, costing the government P207 million to support the treatments annually. A full-blown epidemic would entail an annual cost of P50 million.

Santiago has filed Senate Resolution 658 calling for an inquiry into the alarming increase in HIV infections and the necessity of funding HIV prevention programs that include the provision of services to populations most at risk of being infected.

HIV prevention programs include HIV education, counseling and testing, diagnostic and treatment of other sexually transmitted infections, and access to commodities that promote safe sex such as lubricants.

Santiago noted that condom use in the country remains low while having multiple sexual partners is common.

The Philippines is now one of seven countries in the world with increasing numbers of new cases. The others are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Santiago is also one of the principal authors and sponsors of the Reproductive Health bill in the Senate.

200 new cases

The number of new HIV/AIDS cases in the country is nearing the 8,000 mark as 200 new cases were recorded in October.

The Philippine HIV/AIDS registry showed that from January 1984 to October 2011, a total of 7,884 cases have been recorded; 937 of them had progressed into AIDS, while 339 had died.

In October, the number of cases recorded was 92 percent higher than 104 cases in October 2010.

Public health records showed that 97 percent of the cases were males. The median age was 27 years but ranged from 15 to 65. The 20 to 29 age group had the most number of cases. Fifty four percent of the new cases were from the National Capital Region.

The males having sex with males sector (MSM) is still the leading contributor of new cases, accounting for 85 percent of the new cases. Seventeen injecting drug users (IDU) contracted the virus by sharing contaminated needles.

Of the 200 new cases, only one case, that of a 27-year-old male, had progressed to AIDS. He was infected through bisexual contact. No AIDS-related death was recorded in October.

This year, 1,869 new HIV cases were recorded, 72 of which had progressed to AIDS.

Refocusing target

Dr. Susan Gregorio, acting director of the Philippine National AIDS Council, said the country is now refocusing its campaign against HIV/AIDS on the MSM and IDU sectors to effectively control the spread of the disease.

She said that before, the focus was on female sex workers. The trend changed in 2007 — especially in the MSM sector — and was attributed to the rise in popularity of social networking sites that made it easier for people to communicate even with strangers.

Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said at least 46 percent of infections recorded this year were from homosexual contact compared with 25 percent in 2006.

Injecting drug users were still a small proportion of the total but there had been a sharp rise from only eight cases detected in 2009 to 147 last year, and another 80 in the first 10 months of 2011.   Previously, HIV had been mainly spread through heterosexual contact. This had been curbed with many HIV-prevention programs focusing on educating and testing female sex workers.

Funding woes

Tayag said the government needs an estimated P35 billion to carry out HIV-prevention programs from 2011 to 2016.

However, the health department had only identified foreign and local sources for P19 billion leaving a projected shortfall of P16 billion pesos.

The funding crunch is expected to be felt when the current round of funding assistance from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria runs out in November 2012.

Last month, Global Fund announced the cancellation of its Round-11 funding program, citing dwindling resources. To prevent a disruption of programs for HIV, TB and Malaria, the agency had given affected countries a chance to apply for funding for essential needs.

For HIV/AIDS, Global Fund will provide subsidy only for people who are already receiving anti-retroviral treatment. The Philippines is now using up the financial assistance under the five-year Round-6 that will last until November next year.

Maria Teresa Bagasao, country director of UNAIDS, said another “round” of aid pledges by Global Fund was originally scheduled for next year but has been put back to 2013 and any grant money will not be released until 2014 at the earliest.

“The country needs to look at whether there is going to be a critical gap in the funding. It has to actually sit down and identify where the gap will be. In prevention or treatment?” Bagasao told AFP.

The Global Fund, a UN-supported partnership of governments and private aid groups, had made up the bulk of the foreign aid that paid for as much as 80 percent of the country’s HIV prevention and treatment programs.

Activists have accused the government of cutting its own funding for HIV programs and relying too much on external sources.

“There was a gradual decrease (in local funding) because of an over-reliance on external financing like the Global Fund,” said Jonas Bagas, spokesman for the Network to Stop AIDS in the Philippines, a coalition of health and activist groups.

Pending in Congress are pieces of legislation that seek additional funding for the country’s HIV/AIDS response program. House Bill 5312 seeks to allot P400 million to jumpstart a new national HIV/AIDS program. The bill was introduced by Representatives Arnel Ty, Maria Isabelle Climaco, Janette Garin, Jorge Banal, and Kaka Bag-ao.

Senator Santiago filed a counterpart Senate Bill 3072 last month. -–Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) with Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz