by Macon Ramos-Araneta, the Standard, July 18, 2016
AROUND 25 Filipinos were diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus daily as the total number of these cases had risen to 34,158 since January 1984 following the recorded 3,802 new cases from January to May 2016.
The latest HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines or HARP report showed 739 new HIV cases were reported in May 2016.
Out of the 739 cases, 106 developed into full-blown acquired immune deficiency virus cases and 52 died of AIDS in May.
Among the 739 new cases, 687 (93 percent) happened through sexual transmission, and mostly from men-having-sex-with-men, which accounted for 589 cases or 86 percent.
Homosexual contact was responsible for 357 cases, followed by bisexual contact with 232 cases and 98 cases from heterosexual contact.
Injecting drug use accounted for the transmission of 50 new cases, while two others were cases of mother-to-child transmissions.
Fifty-six of the new cases were found to be migrant Filipino workers who were infected through sexual transmission.
Since 1984, 3,070 AIDS cases and 1,759 deaths from the total of 34,158 HIV cases have been recorded in the Philippines.
Genesis Samonte, Epidemiology Program Manager of the Health Department, raised the alarm on the increasing number of cases.
He said iån 2008 only one person was getting infected daily, but the number had surged to 17 per day by 2014.
“Our neighbors in Asia have seen a decrease in new cases and we’re the only one—along with Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan—increasing in HIV prevalence,” she said.
She said the problem could even get worse since the statistics were based only on who got tested.
“This is an underestimate of people who actually have HIV because some refuse to be tested or do not know where and how to get tested, especially in the urban areas,” Samonte said.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
