Mother-to-child HIV transmission cases rising

MANILA, Philippines, June 10 ------ Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from mother to child has increased sharply over the past years, the Department of Health (DOH) reported. In the latest HIV and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) Surveillance of the Philippines, 202 cases of mother-to-child HIV transmission were logged between January 2020 and March 2025, which is more than half of the 401 total number of cases since 1984.

In the first quarter of the year, 17 cases of newly diagnosed HIV cases were acquired through mother-to-child transmission. Sexual contact, however, has consistently been the leading mode of HIV transmission among the newly diagnosed cases. A total of 148,831 HIV and AIDS cases were recorded from 1985 to March 2025. Of the number, 96 percent, or 143,272 were acquired through sexual contact.

The figure includes 89,198 cases from male-to-male sex, 33,823 male-male/female sex, and 20,251 from male-to-female sex. Sharing of infected needles accounted for two percent or 2,627 of the total cases while no new cases of transmission through blood products has been recorded since 2012. Among diagnosed males, 88 percent acquired HIV through sex with another male, nine percent through sex with a female, two percent through infected needles, and less than one percent through mother-to-child transmission.

The predominant mode of transmission among females was sexual contact, with 93 percent acquired through sex with a male, and two percent through mother-to-child. Another two percent was attributed to sharing of infected needles. DOH data further indicated regional variations, such as 34 percent of diagnosed males who had sex with males were from the National Capital Region. Meanwhile, 57 percent of those who acquired the infection through mother to child came from NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon. Almost all, or 99 percent of those who acquired the infection through sharing infected needles were from Central Visayas.

In the first quarter of the year, 96 percent or 4,899 of the newly recorded cases had acquired the infection through sexual contact, while those who got it from infected needles and mother-to-child transmission accounted for less than one percent each. Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reached out to persons living with HIV/AIDS, in an attempt to help beat the stigma against the disease. “I hope this message goes clear to our young people: don’t be afraid to come out and avail of the intervention that the episcopal commission on health care is doing,” CBCP-episcopal commission on health care vice chairman Military Ordinariate Bishop Oscar Jaime Florencio said over dzRV. “We know that you are part of the Church we serve and love. We want to reach out and (let you) be cured,” he added.

Source: philstar.com