ILOILO City – A nongovernment organization is promoting safe sex this Dinagyang Festival. Today it will start distributing free condoms. Free HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) tests, too, will be offered.
According to the Family Planning Organization of Philippines (FPOP) Iloilo Chapter, the popular Dinagyang is a good platform to spread public awareness on the importance of protecting one’s self from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
Cumulative data (January 1986 to August 2018) on HIV from the Department of Health (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).
FPOP Iloilo’s “HIV ambassadors” and peer educators have been actively educating the public on safe sex and the importance of HIV testing since the 2016 Dinagyang Festival.
During the 2017 Dinagyang, 70,000 condoms were distributed, said Mona Lisa Diones, FPOP Iloilo program manager.
This year, the group expects to distribute more from several distribution points, mostly areas where Dinagyang revelers converge.
The distribution will be until Sunday, said Diones.
“Siempre may ara gid na nga activities pertaining sa sex…naka-ready na kami,” Diones told Panay News.
The HIV testing, on the other hand, would be done at FPOP Iloilo’s Community Health Care Birthing Center and Laboratory, Inc. office on Rizal Street, City Proper.
“Those who want to avail themselves of free condoms and HIV tests can also drop by our office,” said Diones.
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.
FPOP Iloilo gets its supply of free condoms from Save the Children, also a nongovernment organization; the Department of Health and other organizations that have HIV programs and advocacies.
“Wala man kami ga-conduct if there is no demand. But we found out from our HIV ambassadors that many are asking,” said Diones.
How should the rising number of HIV infections in this city be viewed?
Two months ago, Councilor Joshua Alim pushed for a conference with health experts and other stakeholders such as FPOP Iloilo.
“We must be properly advised,” said Alim.
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.
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.
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).
DOH itself is also offering free HIV testing and antiretroviral drugs, she added./PN
