Over 8T HIV carriers here undocumented

Cebu sixth district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz yesterday said that while there are about 11,000 Filipinos who are reportedly carriers of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which attacks the body’s immune system and causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, only 2,857 cases are being monitored by Health authorities.

The HIV-AIDS registry of the Department of Health reported only 2,857 cases in the country from January 1984 to May of last year, this according to Soon-Ruiz.

Information showed that most of the carriers are males, 25 to 39 years old, the virus transmitted predominantly through sexual intercourse. In May of last year alone, 35 cases were reported.

Because of this, Soon-Ruiz who is a doctor by profession authored House Bill 1389 seeking amendment of Republic Act 8504 or “The Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998.”

She said the bill will enhance the existing HIV-AIDS information and educational program, as well as the monitoring system in order to increase the Filipinos’ level of awareness of the problem.

The bill will provide an augmentation fund to increase the annual budget for the Philippine National Aids Council to make it a more financially and administratively autonomous agency of the DOH.

Last March 27, Soon-Ruiz presented to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the UN Headquarters in New York City the report of the AIDS Commission entitled “Redefining AIDS in Asia – Crafting an Effective Response.”

“The incidence of HIV-AIDS in the Philippines can no longer be regarded as low and slow. It is rather growing yet hidden,” Soon-Ruiz said, adding that the official report is just the tip of the iceberg.

“The alarming side of the story is the unreported and undocumented cases, now escalating to an estimated 11,000 cases,” she said.

Studies also showed that Southeast Asia has the highest prevalence of HIV in Asia, with Indonesia having the fastest rate of growth of HIV-infected people, Soon-Ruiz said.

Across Asia, an estimated 4.9 million people have been living with HIV, including 440,000 newly infected in the past years, while about 300,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses or complications in 2007, according to the UNAIDS annual report issued late last year.

“Inaction could prove to be costly. Let’s not wait for this crisis to become an epidemic,” Soon-Ruiz, a member of the UNAIDS Commission, said. — Garry B. Lao/MEEV