Gov't must declare national emergency on HIV, expert says

MANILA, Philippines — The government should declare a national emergency on the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases among Filipinos especially among young people, an expert said on Tuesday.

In an interview on One News' "The Chiefs", Rosanna Ditangco, head of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine-Department of Health AIDS Research Group, said it may take around five years for the Philippines to make a dent in the rising number of cases.

"Yes, I think so," she said when asked if a national emergency declaration is needed.

"We need a concerted effort to control HIV," she added.

She said that based on their research, around 32 new cases of HIV are being recorded daily, and many of these new infections are among young people.

Ditangco explained that one reason for an increased vulnerability among the youth is they have become more sexually active in recent years.

Another factor could be the proliferation of new technologies like online dating apps that let young Filipinos meet and engage in behavior that could expose them to HIV, she said.

She said that young people also seem less concerned about HIV compared to people from other age groups.

Philippines must scale up prevention

Lui Ocampo, country director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, said the Philippines must scale up its prevention measures if it would like to arrest the increasing number of cases recorded since 2010.

He said that the country has the highest incidence of HIV in the Asia Pacific region, recording a  140-percent increase from 2010-2017.

The Philippines is also one of eight countries that contribute to 90 percent of HIV cases in the Asia Pacific region, Ocampo warned.

Some of the measures Ocampo proposed is the national institutionalization of condom use among Filipinos and the increase in access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, medicines taken by people to lower the risk of contracting HIV.

Ditangco said that treatment of HIV in the Philippines, which could normally cost P30,000 a year, is free.

Medicines also become less complicated although researchers still have to find a cure.

Ditangco said that one challenge in dealing with the rise in HIV infection is the difficulty in changing people's behavior.

Another challenge is that HIV is transmitted through a "very personal activity," she said.

"HIV will require behavior change," she said.