Wife dies of AIDS in Leyte town

TACLOBAN City – She left Abuyog town in Leyte nine years ago to work as a house maid in Manila. Because of extreme poverty, she was forced to work as an entertainer at a night club for four years.

Last week, Rose (not her real name) died of AIDS. She was only 25.

Married but childless, Rose was the second AIDS victim from her town to succumb to the incurable illness, prompting villagers to worry on the possible spread of disease.

Dr. Ligaya Acosta, information chief of the local health office, said residents of Abuyog should not be alarmed by Rose’s death. In fact, she said Rose’s husband has been tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to find out if he also has the disease.

"We’re coordinating with the family of the victim to know who was with her in her last days," Acosta said.

The first AIDS victim from Abuyog died in the early 1990s. There are now some 100,000 Filipinos afflicted by AIDS since the disease began to be known worldwide in the 1980s. – Ulysses Torres Sabuco