MANILA – At
a time when many countries are seeing their HIV infection rates level off or
decline, the Philippines is going in the opposite direction.
The big Southeast Asian nation historically
has had a relatively low HIV rate, which experts say is particularly surprising
given that condom use is discouraged by the powerful Philippines Catholic
church. Experts have argued for years over why the Philippines rate is so low,
with far less than 1% of the country’s 95 million people believed to have HIV
or AIDs, and less than 350 new cases as recently as 2007.
But officials have seen an unexpected surge
in cases in the past several years, with a more than five-fold increase between
2007 and 2011, with 2,349 new cases last year. The total number of cases as of April
2012 is 9,396, compared to just 3,061 in 2007.
The Philippines is now recording seven new
HIV infections a day, versus one a day before 2007, making it one of only seven
countries worldwide where HIV infection rates continue to rise rapidly, says Dr.
Erik Tayag of the Philippines Department of Health. The other countries are
Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, according
to a 2010 UNAIDS report.
Government epidemiologists have warned that
by 2015, the total number of HIV cases in the Philippines could reach 45,000
from the reported 7,000 cases in 2011.
Doctors are still trying to determine the
cause of the unexpected increase. Either way, domestic and international HIV
experts have been warning for a while that the Philippines has all the
necessary ingredients for an HIV epidemic. In addition to low condom use among
Filipinos, it is common in some communities for Filipinos to have multiple
sexual partners, with prostitution widespread in some areas.
Another possible contributing factor is the
especially large number of Filipino citizens who work overseas for part of
their adult lives, often in jobs or in regions that have relatively high rates
of infection.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) now comprise
one-fifth of the total HIV and AIDS cases in the Philippines. As of May 30, a
total of 1,921 OFWs have been diagnosed as HIV-positive, but experts say this
number probably doesn’t represent the full picture, as many OFWs with HIV
return home without going through any tests, meaning no one knows they are
infected.
One HIV positive man named Jaymee who prefers
not to be identified by his full name worked for 17 years in Japan and Korea as
a factory worker, entertainer, and waiter. He said that OFWs with HIV are
ashamed to approach Philippine embassies
for assistance when working overseas, especially when they are undocumented
workers, as he was.
“I am hoping that the government will have a
program that will reach out to Filipino communities to help OFWs with HIV,” he
said.
Some leaders in the Philippines say the
country needs to rethink its policies to confront the rising incidence of the
disease. Despite the jump in cases, public spending on HIV prevention,
treatment, care and support has dwindled from 81 million Philippine pesos
(US$1.9 million) in 2009 to 65million pesos (US$1.6 million) in 2011. The
UNAIDS organization says the cost of treating Filipinos with HIV and in need of
anti-retroviral treatment could rise to 428.5 million pesos (US$10.3 million)
by 2015.
Activists say part of the problem is that
legislation passed in the 1990s to manage the problem is now outdated.
Congresswoman Janette Garin, a senior deputy majority leader, has authored a
new HIV and AIDs prevention and treatment bill she and others say would provide
clearer strategies for targeting the disease.
The bill proposes new funding of 400 million
Philippine pesos (US$9.6 million) for public awareness campaigns, condom
procurement and other outreach. “The current rate of spending will not reverse
the epidemic,” said Jonas Bagas, executive director of TLF Share, a
non-governmental organization focusing on sexual health. “We need to spend
more, and we need to start doing it next year.”
It’s unclear, though, if the bill will pass,
and even if it does, it could take months, Mr. Bagas said.
Meanwhile, alarmed by the rising number of
OFW Filipinos turning up positive for HIV, Congressman Arnel Ty has urged
Filipino sailors with sexually active lifestyles abroad to have themselves
tested for HIV to curb the spread of the disease.
“It is not exactly a secret that many sailors
are exceptionally vulnerable to HIV, owing to their easy access to commercial
sex services overseas, plus they have the money to pay for it,” said
Congressman Ty, who is also one of the authors of the new bill that aims to
raise funding.
More than 350,000 Filipino sailors serve on
board foreign ocean-going vessels at any given time.
Josephine Cuneta
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