Review of Philippine AIDS program sought

MANILA, Philippines - As the country prepares to celebrate World AIDS Day on Tuesday, a neophyte congresswoman is asking the House of Representatives to review existing government policies and programs to curb the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country.

Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, a community doctor, has filed Resolution 2526, in which she expressed alarm over the rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country.

She said the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the number of new infections has increased from 17 a day in 2014 to 22 this year.

She said the WHO itself was alarmed, since new cases in other countries have gone down by as much as 40 percent.

“The United Nations (UN) AIDS program has reported that the Philippines has over 20,000 cases of new infection, which is more than the number of HIV cases in the country from 1984 to the early 2000s,” she said.

She added that with the rise in HIV/AIDS incidence, the UN is concerned that the Philippines would not be able to meet its Millennium Development Goals target of combatting the deadly disease.

Tan pointed out that the “massive spread of HIV has tremendously outpaced Republic Act No. 8504, otherwise known as the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, which was once known as a landmark and model piece of legislation.”

There is thus a need for Congress to revisit the law and review programs to enable the government to cope with the increase in HIV/AIDS cases, she stressed.

World Aids Day is celebrated on Dec. 1 every year. The multi-year theme from 2011 to 2015 is: “Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.”