THE Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) yesterday launched a campaign to address the stigma associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) by raising public awareness on prevention, testing and treatment of the dreaded disease.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the “Undetectable = Untransmittable Campaign” is part of the government’s response amid the rising HIV and AIDS cases in the country.
“This intensified campaign is to alleviate the latest Philippine HIV estimates which show that by the end of 2024, people living with HIV — or PLHIV — in the country is estimated to hit 215,000,” Herbosa said in a statement.
Of these, 131,335 or 61 percent have been diagnosed or laboratory-confirmed and currently living or not reported to have died, as of September 2024.
Further, 88,544 (67 percent) PLHIV are taking the life-saving antiretroviral therapy or ART, of which, 39,003 (44 percent) have been tested for viral load in the past 12 months.
The data also showed that males (132,776) make up 94 percent of the total reported HIV cases, while only about 7.9 cases were females.
Herbosa said the campaign hopefully will address the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS and opens conversation about its prevention.
“The public is reminded that regular testing in primary health care facilities, local clinics, health centers and mobile testing centers can be accessed in confidence. The urgent call for treatment adherence if tested positive for HIV is also part of the campaign, as well as practicing safe sex such as using condoms consistently and using oral pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP to reduce risk of contracting the HIV virus,” Herbosa said.
“It is only through collective action that we will be able to end the HIV epidemic in the country. We must all work together to ensure that those who need it most-especially our PLHIVs and other key populations are able to access our HIV services without difficulty or stigma,” he added.
PHAC executive director Dr. Joselito Feliciano echoed Herbosa’s remarks and said only a “whole-of-nation and whole-of-society” approach will help address the problem and stem the rising HIV cases in the country.
“We should strive to work through multisectoral and multidisciplinary processes, exploring innovative strategies and interventions that would be most impactful in addressing our country’s HIV challenges,” he said.
Aside from the rising HIV cases, Herbosa and Feliciano also cited data that the virus is also afflicting the country’s youth to a great extent.
By age group, Herbosa said 471 cases were below 15 years old; 41,219 were among the youth aged 15 to 24 years; 69,808 cases were 25-34 years old; and 24,478 were aged 35 to 49 years.
“Based on the AIDS epidemic model estimates, if prevention and interventions won’t scale up, the number of PLHIV could reach approximately 448,000 by 2030,” Herbosa added.
