HIV national health emergency pushed amid 500 percent surge

MANILA, Philippines, June 4 ------ Young Filipinos infected with human immunodeficiency virus have increased by 500 percent, prompting the Department of Health (DOH) to call for a national public health emergency. “There is a 500 percent increase in HIV cases among age group 15 to 25 (between 2010 and 2023). The youngest case is that of a 12-year-old in the province of Palawan,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

With a daily average of 57 cases from January to March, the DOH said the Philippines has the highest number of new HIV cases in the Western Pacific Region. Around 5,101 confirmed HIV cases were recorded in the same period, which is over 50 percent higher than 3,409 cases last year. “It is alarming that most of the new cases involve the youth. If the number of HIV infections won’t be averted, people living with HIV will reach 400,000,” Herbosa warned.

A national public health emergency will enable all sectors to help, as a “whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach can help lower new HIV cases,” he noted. “We should also increase antiretroviral treatments to decrease the viral load of people living with HIV,” Herbosa said. Self-test kits are available in drug stores, he noted.

Regions with the highest number of newly diagnosed HIV cases were Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Davao, Western Visayas and Central Visayas. “HIV can be cured and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) should not result in death,” Herbosa maintained.

Source: philstar.com