ILOILO City – How should the rising number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in this city be viewed?
“We need to be alarmed. We need to know the facts,” said Councilor Joshua Alim.
He pushed for a conference with health experts and other stakeholders such as the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines here that is active in HIV information dissemination activities.
“We must be properly advised,” said Alim.
A tentative date and venue of the conference had been identified – Nov. 27, the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall at city hall.
Councilor Liezl Joy Zulueta Salazar, on the other hand, said the surge in confirmed HIV infections could be because more people are now open to having themselves tested for the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
HIV is a sexually transmitted infection. But it can also be spread by contact with infected blood or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
The surge in interest for HIV testing, said Salazar, is the result of the intensive education drive on HIV/AIDS and HIV testing by various stakeholders.
Cumulative data (January 1986 to August 2018) on HIV from DOH Region 6 showed Iloilo City having the highest number of infections in Western Visayas at 719, followed by Iloilo province (547), Negros Occidental (474), Bacolod City (441), Capiz (184), Aklan (178), Antique (143), and Guimaras (55).
Salazar, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on women and family relations, also cited the accessibility of the treatment hub for people living with HIV in the city (the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district).
The Department of Health (DOH) itself is also offering free HIV testing and antiretroviral drugs, she added.
“Even in my office we have free testing. They can come into my office and ask for free,” said Zulueta.
Meanwhile, this year alone from January to August, Iloilo City also has the most number of HIV/AIDS deaths in the region at 20, followed by Iloilo province (13), Bacolod City (11), Negros Occidental (seven), Guimaras and Antique (four each), Capiz (three), and Aklan (two).
AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition. By damaging the immune system, HIV interferes with the body’s ability to fight organisms that cause diseases.
There is no cure for HIV/AIDS for now, but there are medications that can dramatically slow the progression of the disease. These drugs have reduced AIDS deaths in many developed nations.
DOH recently said one person was diagnosed with HIV every 13 hours in Region 6./PN
