HIV cases growing by the hour - DOH

MANILA, Philippines - The number of people infected with the deadly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leading to AIDS is growing by the hour in the Philippines.

One Filipino gets infected with HIV every two hours and may possibly be spreading the disease to others without knowing it, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

“From one case every four days, HIV is now rapidly rising in the Philippines, with one Filipino acquiring the infection every two to three hours,” DOH-National Epidemiology Center’s HIV Surveillance chief Genesis Samonte said.

Although HIV prevalence remained low among the general population, Samonte said the country is experiencing a so-called “expanding epidemic” of HIV/AIDS among high-risk groups, such as men having sex with men (MSM), injecting drug users and those who have multiple sexual partners.

While the HIV/AIDS trend worldwide is already on the decline, Samonte said there are seven countries, including the Philippines, where occurrence of the fatal infection has been steadily increasing.

The DOH’s National AIDS Registry recorded around 200 HIV cases annually from 1984 to 2001. It steadily went up and HIV cases hit a 416 percent increase in 2006.

“Since 1984 until March 2011, we have a total of 9,163 HIV/AIDS cases in the country, but this could be an underestimate because these cases were only people who volunteered to be tested for the disease,” Samonte explained.

The DOH estimated that there could be as many as 10,000 Filipinos nationwide who are not aware that they are infected with HIV and already spreading the disease to others.

Comparing data from 2007, Samonte said the country posted a 587 percent increase in HIV cases in 2011.

A majority or 90 percent of those infected with HIV were males. Metro Manila accounted for 60 percent of the confirmed HIV/AIDS cases.

Samonte said the government allocates P200 million yearly to provide treatment to people living with AIDS.

The DOH purchased anti-retroviral drugs from the grant coming from Global Fund, an international financial institution that invests the world’s money to save lives. However, the Global Fund decided not to extend the grant to the Philippines when it runs out in November this year.

Samonte said the DOH has already sent a letter to the Global Fund seeking a two-year extension in giving free treatment to about 2,000 Filipino HIV patients. She said the DOH is still awaiting the response of the Global Fund.

In case the Global Fund stops the grant, Samonte said the government would be needing double of the yearly P200-million budget for the treatment and AIDS prevention programs.

The DOH is supporting a proposed bill in Congress that would institutionalize funding for HIV programs and strengthen measures that address discrimination and stigma against people infected with HIV.