Lawmaker: 47% of new HIV cases in PH due to male-to-male sex

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list congressman on Sunday raised an alarm against a high number of Filipinos who got infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through unprotected male-to-male sexual contact.

Citing National HIV/AIDS Registry statistics, LPG/MA Rep. Arnel Ty noted that men having sex with men has emerged as the predominant type of sexual transmission of HIV and Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the country.

“If we look at the 654 new HIV cases diagnosed in the country from January to April this year, 47 percent or 305 of them were infected on account of unprotected sexual contact between males,” he said in a press statement.

Ty said another 32%, or 211, of the new cases contracted the ailment as a result of unguarded bisexual encounters. Eighteen percent, or 116 cases, were infected due to unprotected heterosexual contact, the lawmaker also noted.

The National HIV/AIDS Registry lists a total of the 6,669 passively diagnosed cases as of April 30.

Ty has urged Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) to quickly adopt the new strategies being pushed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the spread of HIV and save the lives of men who have sex with men.
The PNAC is the central advisory, planning and policy making body on the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in the country. It is made up of 26 members from the government, civil society and organizations of people living with HIV.

Ty, who has been crusading against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, filed a House resolution pushing for a congressional review of the 13-year-old AIDS Prevention and Control Law. –abs-cbnNEWS.com