Unhealthy lifestyle worsens HIV cases

The Labor Department on Saturday expressed alarm over the rising cases of HIV and AIDS among Filipino workers.

“The number of HIV and AIDS cases is continually rising with 380 new cases recorded in January of this year, 79 percent higher than that of the same period last year,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

The culprit, according to Baldoz, is unhealthy lifestyle.

In a separate report, LPG-MA Rep. Arnel Ty, one of the authors of the proposed new AIDS Prevention and Control Law, said that a total of 1,089 new HIV cases were diagnosed nationwide from January to March this year, up to 36 percent compared to the 7999 listed in the same three-month period in 2012.

Also, the 370 cases in March were the second-highest ever detected in a month, after the 380 reported in January.

“If we do not slow the spread of the virus, we are easily looking at new HIV cases doubling every two years,” Ty said.

HIV causes AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The disease that destroys the human body’s immune system still does not have any known cure, although anti-retroviral therapy can slow down the ailment.

“If we now have 12 new cases spotted daily, we might have 24 cases every day, or one every hour, by 2015,” Ty added.

Ty had filed House Bill 6751, which revamps the outmoded 1998 AIDS Prevention and Control Law, and tasks the Philippine National AIDS Council to draw up a bold new six-year program with specific targets to reverse the outbreak.

Among the bill’s authors are Representatives Alfredo Maranon III, Kaka Bag-ao, Janette Garin, Jorge Banal, Maria Isabelle Climaco, Imelda Marcos, Lani Mercado-Revilla, Florencio Flores Jr., Nancy Catameo, Walden Bello, Sharon Garin and Jun Omar Ebdane.

Baldoz, meanwhile, said that through the Occupational Safety and Health Center’s CHANGE module, these diseases may now be prevented.

The labor official added that unless Filipino workers change their lifestyle, many will suffer the consequence of getting seriously ill or even die from these diseases.

“We can’t afford to lose workers to diseases which can be prevented. We want more workers to be aware of the ways they can promote healthy lifestyle in their workplaces so we integrated the ‘change’ module into the online Basic Occupational Safety and Health (e-BOSH) training,” she said.

The latest data from International Labor Organization showed that approximately 90 percent of Filipinos are at risk of contracting many of the top 10 leading causes of death, namely heart diseases, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and kidney ailments.

The Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), the Department of Health (DOH), International Labor Organization (ILO), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNADS), Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) jointly developed the CHANGE module designed to encourage workers and managers to create workplace-based interventions to promote healthy lifestyles.

Initially intended for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, the CHANGE module features behavior change communication strategies, as well as tools for instituting and measuring workplace improvements on workers attitudes on smoking; alcohol and drug abuse; HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases; nasal and lung ailments; and good nutrition and breastfeeding.

“After the CHANGE module was piloted in several BPO companies, we saw that it could also be effective for workers in other industries. Every employee is, after all, exposed to the health risks of an unhealthy lifestyle. We have now included the CHANGE Module in our-on-line BOSH course so more workers in our on-line BOSH can benefit from it,” OSHC Executive Director Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco said.

The e-BOSH is the on-line version of the 40-hour Basic Safety and Health Training Course which is mandatory for all safety officers. Learners who finish the course within the maximum period of three months will receive a certificate of completion. –Vito Barcelo, Manila Standard Today