MORE than 500 individuals who engaged in transactional sex have been found positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during the 2nd quarter of 2025, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Based on the April-June 2025 HIV and AIDS Surveillance of the Philippines report, a total of 569 individuals who engaged in transactional sex within the past three months have been diagnosed with HIV.
“People engaging in transactional sex include all individuals who reported having either accepted payment, paid for sex, or done both in the form of money or kind in the past 12 months,” said the DOH.
Of the total, 270 had paid for sex, including 268 males and two females. There were also 209 individuals who accepted payment for sex, including 202 males and 7 females.
The health department said there were also 90 cases that were engaged in both, all of whom are males.
Since the reporting of transactional sex began in December 2012, the DOH said a total of 17,151 cases have been reported.
Broken down, there were 5,780 who accepted payment for sex, 8,615 who paid for sex, and 2,756 who were engaged in both.
Meanwhile, nearly 50 pregnant women were found to be positive for HIV during the second quarter of 2025.
“From April to June 2025, there were 47 HIV positive women aged 16 to 45 years old, who were pregnant at the time of diagnosis,” said the DOH.
It was back in 2011 when the health department began reporting on HIV cases among pregnant women.
“Since then, a total of 1,063 diagnosed women were reported pregnant at the time of diagnosis,” said the DOH.
