People living with HIV campaign for increased awareness

MANILA, Philippines – Pursuant to the observance of the World AIDS Day, the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), in coordination with Pinoy Plus, the pioneer organization of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and AIDS in the country held a forum to remind the public and government that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has not gone away and that there is still a need to continue raising awareness, fight prejudice, improve education and raise resources for it.

Carrying the theme “Getting to ZERO: Zero New Infections; Zero AIDS-related deaths; Zero Discrimination,” the event aims to increase awareness amongst the youth and promote partnership among community organization, public and private institutions and non-governmental groups in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

HIV prevalence in the Philippines

Worldwide, approximately 34 million people have HIV. According to the Department of Health (DOH), the number of people with HIV in the Philippines is expected to exceed 30,000 by the end of 2014 with 16 new cases being documented daily.

Pinoy Plus president Eddy Razon said that for the past five years, the number of PLHIV has been high, with 10-18 incidence per day. PNC said that to date, HIV prevalence is 56% among people who inject drugs, three and more than five percent among males who have sex with males and transgender women, respectively. In 2013, HIV prevalence has been noted to be more than one percent among female sex workers.

The challenges and barriers to HIV prevention and treatment

While PNAC’s latest report states that people living with HIV (PLHIV) have 80 percent access to antiretroviral treatment, the total number of confirmed HIV-positive cases could only be half of the actual PLHIV population. According to PNAC, the challenge is to find out how to increase the number of people taking the HIV test especially among those people who practice high HIV-risk activities.

Raising the bar for HIV awareness and demystifying the misconceptions on HIV and AIDS is also a challenge according to Kate Montecarlo Cordova, founder and chair of the Association of Transgender People in the Philippines, one of the partner organizations of the event. “Legal barriers such as the lack of gender recognition law entails a psychological impact to transgender people,” she says. According to her, the government shall act upon a law that gives enough programs and interventions to address the needs of transgender women, including health services.

Aside from that, Razon also stated that the lack of fund and support of the government for the PLHIV is also one of the challenges. He noted that while P10 billion is the recommended budget for PLHIV, approximately only P1 million is allotted by the government.

Programs and activities to increase HIV awareness

PNAC hopes that through the observance of World AIDS day, stigma and discrimination faced by people infected and affected with HIV and AIDS would be resolved.

Currently, PPA is working on improving the care and support for HIV patients by providing counseling needs and HIV treatment. Moreover, they partner with different organizations such as Association of Transgender People of the Philippines and Take the Test Campaign to conduct symposium about HIV treatment adherence, prevention of mother to child incidence, positive prevention and TB and HIV co-infection among others among different schools and workplaces. –Alixandra Caole Vila (philstar.com)