NI: Charina Clarisse L. Echaluce
Sa mga bansa sa Asya, sa Pilipinas pinakamabilis magkahawahan ng human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), ayon sa Department of Health (DoH); sinabing karamihan sa mga kaso ay kabilang sa populasyon ng males having sex with males (MSM).
“A UNAIDS [United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS] Report on the global HIV epidemic states that the number of new infections in the Philippines has more than doubled in the past six years from an estimated 4,300 in 2010 to an estimated 10,500 in 2016,” sinabi ni Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial sa press conference kahapon. “The Philippines has become the country with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific, and has become one of eight countries that account for more than 85 percent of new HIV infections in the region.”
Noong 2008, isang tao ang nada-diagnose na may HIV kada araw. Tumaas ito sa apat noong 2010, siyam pagsapit ng 2012, 17 noong 2014, at 26 noong nakaraang taon. Sa kasalukuyan, umabot na sa 29 na katao ang nada-diagnose na may HIV kada araw.
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Ayon sa DoH-Epidemiology Bureau (DoH-EB), 80 porsiyento ng impeksiyon ay mula sa 117 high burden area, kabilang ang Metro Manila at mga katabing probinsiya; Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, GenSan, Koronadal, Butuan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Naga, Lucena, Angeles, Mabalacat, Tarlac, San Fernando, Cabanatuan, Olongapo, at Baguio.
“Our problem with HIV is it will not go away. It is a problem that the Philippines has to face head on because we cannot close our eyes and think that we will not have new infections anymore. It will continue to increase and it will start to burden our health system it we don’t invest in prevention and treatment,” ayon kay Dr. Genesis Samonte ng DoH-EB.
