One Filipino is infected with HIV every 85 minutes, Health official says in House briefing

Every 85 minutes, one Filipino is infected with HIV and most likely, the victim is a man who got it from having sex with a fellow male.

A top Department of Health official made this announcement on Wednesday during a briefing at the House of Representatives.

The HIV “epidemic” among the particular “sub group of population” is no longer the “usual low and slow prevalence,” Dr. Ferchito Avelino, executive director of the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), said.

“We are now experiencing a fast and furious type of epidemic, wherein the epidemic is concentrated among males who have sex with males and people injecting drugs,” he said in an interview.

For the month of July, the health department has monitored at least 449 reported HIV cases, mostly from males who have sex with men (MSM).

Some 14,000 HIV cases across the country have been reported to the department, a figure that Avelino said could be higher because only 20 percent of those who belong to the Most-At-Risk-Populations (MARPs) undergo the tests.

MARPs include the People in Prostitution (PIP), Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID), and MSM.

“We are saying that the increase was at the level of the fast and the furious because in the last four years, we have seen that the rise in HIV cases in the Philippines was 523 percent increase (from 2008 to 2012), so that was really fast.” Avelino said.

“But is that epidemic on the general population? The answer is not yet at the moment, but we are looking at certain portion of the population who is now experiencing an increasing HIV cases. Generalized epidemic begins with concentrated epidemic,” he added.

To counter the spread in HIV cases, Avelino said the government needs at least P1.2 billion that will mostly be used in prevention such as education and awareness campaign and other intervention such as distribution of condoms.

Under the Philippine Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS (2011-2016), the government also targets to further prevent the spread of HIV infection by maintaining the prevalence of less than 66 HIV cases per 100,000 population by 2016, and reduce the impact of the disease on individuals, families, sectors, and communities.

“What is important is our government, whether national or local, should lead in the response, and should be able to accept the fact that we need to do something and we have to do it fast,” Avelino said.

Asked if the institutionalization of same sex marriage could bring about more HIV cases in the country, Rao said, “No, not at all. It has nothing to do with same-sex marriage.”

He said what was needed was to remove the stigma on gay couples, so they would be encouraged to avail of the health services, such as the HIV test, to ensure they are free of HIV. –Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com