AIDS law obsolete due to PH ‘concentrated HIV epidemic’, says lawmakers’ group

MANILA – The Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) on Tuesday pushed for the amendment of Republic Act 8504 or the National AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, saying that it is already outdated.

PLCPD executive director Romeo Dongeto said the law contains provisions that no longer respond to the current challenges of the “concentrated HIV epidemic” in the Philippines.

Dongeto said that when a bill seeking a comprehensive AIDS law was filed in September 2011, the total number of HIV documented by the Department of Health (DOH) was only 7,684.

In December 2013, he said, the cumulative documented cases of HIV rose to 16,516.

“The Filipino people could not wait any longer for a responsive and comprehensive law. The urgency of the business at hand is palpable cause for the government to enact a comprehensive law that will respond to the rapidly evolving epidemic in the country,” he said.

Aside from the rapid increase in figures, Dongeto said the epidemic profile has also dramatically changed over the years.

Based on DOH’s Philippine AIDS Registry from 1984 to 1990, females accounted for 60 percent of cases. But in 1990s, seafarers were the most infected.

Younger male HIV patients

In the January 2014 AIDS Registry, 97 percent of the 448 cases were among males, 85 percent of whom are males having sex with males (MSMs), belonging to the 20-24 age group.

“This prompted some PLCPD member-legislators to file amendments to the law seeking to provide comprehensive prevention, treatment, care, and support,” he said.

More specifically, the amendments include the removal of barriers to minors 15 years old and above access to basic HIV prevention and treatment services.

Dongeto assured that the proposed amendments are consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which recognizes the evolving capacities of children.

The PLCPD members who have filed similar amendments to the AIDS Law are Representatives Lani Mercado-Revilla, Rodel Batocabe, Teddy Baguilat, Kaka Bag-ao, and Gus Tambunting, and Senator Pia Cayetano.

Dongeto added that the government must be able to scale-up and sustain a comprehensive and responsive effort to address the fast and furious HIV incidence among populations most at-risk to HIV infections. –Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com