DOH confirms 151 HIV, AIDS cases in EV

CEBU, Philippines - Garin, who was in Palo, Leyte, said that of the 151 cases, 30 were females and 121 were males, majority of them are from Leyte, one of six provinces in Eastern Visayas.

“The figure we gave is just a figure per se because we believe that it is under-declared,” she told the press, citing that, in the country, one person is estimated to be infected every hour.

Garin also admitted that HIV could not be treated yet but then “we have medicines to ensure that they have strong resistance.” HIV-AIDS screening is now also offered for free at the Center for Health Development regional office here, she said.

DOH-6 assistant regional director Paula Paz Sydiongco also said a treatment hub is found at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, where cases are treated with utmost confidentiality by trained personnel.

Sydiongco said that, for this year’s first quarter alone, a total of 20 new cases were recorded. “A little more than half of the (new) cases were from Leyte,” she added.

Most of the cases reported were of overseas Filipino workers, but now there are cases of local infection attributed to male-to-male sexual contact.