14 new cases of HIV in ARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – There are 14 new carriers of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the ARMM’s regional health secretary announced Wednesday.

Physician Kadil Sinolinding Jr., regional secretary of the Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the new HIV cases were discovered from between January 2013 and early this year.

The 14 new HIV cases brought to 43 the total number of individual recorded infections in the ARMM since 1984.

The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in Central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

“We’re doing our best to monitor them and keep track of their whereabouts,” Sinolinding said.

Most of the HIV carriers in the region found out they were positive of the sexually-transmitted disease from test conducted by hospitals outside of ARMM.

He said the DOH-ARMM has a continuing information campaign on avoiding the spread of the disease.