DOH receives P90 M for HIV/AIDS programs

MANILA, Philippines – The national government has given the Department of Health (DOH) some P90 million this year to combat HIV/AIDS which infected 2,349 individuals in 2011.

Dr. Gerard Belimac, program manager of the DOH’s National AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Control Program, said 70 percent of the budget will be earmarked for “prevention and treatment” programs.

Twenty percent, on the other hand, will be spent for “surveillance and studies,” while the remainder will be used by the DOH-led Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC).

The PNAC is a multi-agency group created under the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998 to formulate and oversee implementation of anti-HIV/AIDS programs in the country.

“The remaining 10 percent will be used by PNAC for advocacy, partnership, planning and program management,” Belimac said.

When asked how much the DOH actually needs to adequately finance anti-HIV/AIDS programs this year, he said it is still being computed.

This year, Belimac said the number of HIV/AIDS cases is projected to increase by 14,000, 60 percent of whom will come from Metro Manila, Cebu City and Davao City.

In Metro Manila, the increase can be attributed to the rising infection in the sector of men-having-sex-with-men (MSM), while in Cebu City, the primary contributors are the injecting drug users (IDUs) who share contaminated needles. In Davao City, it will be a combination of the two modes of transmission.

To effectively control HIV, Belimac said the DOH will refocus its programs on the “most at risk” groups like the MSM, IDUs and commercial sex workers.

DOH records show that of the 2,349 cases in 2011, 1,842 were MSM cases while 110 involved IDUs.

From 1984 to 2011, the DOH had recorded a total of 8,364 cases, including 341 deaths and 960 AIDS cases. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)