Govt found wanting on HIV-AIDS info drive

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Sunday flayed the Department of Labor and Employment for not doing enough to educate Filipino workers abroad about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

“It would seem that the DOLE has been inadequate when it comes to raising awareness of HIV, both among outbound and returning Filipinos,” said TUCP president Ernesto Herrera, whose labor center is a member of the multi-sectoral Philippine National AIDS Council.

Herrera reminded the DOLE that under the 1998 AIDS Prevention and Control Law, the DOLE, through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, is duty-bound “to ensure that all OFWs shall undergo or attend a seminar on the cause, prevention and consequences of HIV/AIDS before certification for overseas employment.”

Some 162 new cases were recorded from January to March this year, adding to the 2,800 number of cases of HIV-positive overseas workers.

“This is very sad because many OFWs who are getting infected are at the prime of their lives in terms of productivity,” said Herrera.

Overseas workers now comprise about 16 percent of the 17,948 cases in the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, said Herrera.

Herrera said TUCP is pushing for the passage of new legislation that would provide greater support to and stronger protection for HIV-positive individuals, particularly against employment and workplace discrimination.

The bill, authored by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, seeks to improve the living conditions of HIV-positive people through greater access to treatment, care and support. It also sets tougher penalties for entities and individuals who discriminate against HIV-positive people as well as those who violate their rights to confidentiality.

HIV causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS and is being spread in the country primarily through high-risk sexual contact, predominantly male-to-male sex, and secondarily through needle-sharing among injecting drug users, the PNAC said.

While the disease does not have any known cure, the World Health Organization says “huge reductions have been seen in rates of death and suffering when use is made of a potent antiretroviral regimen, particularly in early stages.”

According to the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, some 98 percent of all HIV-positive overseas workers, or 2,735 cases, acquired the virus as a result of high-risk sexual contact.

A total of 1,432 new HIV cases were discovered countrywide from January to March this year, up 31.5 percent from 1,089 in the same quarter in 2013.

In the whole of 2013, a total of 4,814 cases were detected nationwide, up 44.2 percent compared to 3,338 in 2012. –Ma. Jerrylyn B. Damaso, Manila Standard Today