SAN JOSE, Antique – People living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are entitled to live a normal life, and thus must not be “feared or discriminated.”
The HIV support group Red Sea Horse stressed this, adding that public awareness about HIV must be heightened.
It added that “fear and discrimination” against HIV patients root from lack of right information.
Municipal Health Officer Dr. Melba Billiones affirmed this saying that some people still believe that HIV can be transferred through kissing, touching and “all [other] misconceptions about how it is transmitted.”
Billiones said the stigma on HIV must be stopped.
HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system. If untreated, a person’s immune system will eventually be completely destroyed.
The virus infection continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 35 million lives so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2016, one million people died from HIV-related causes around the world, added the WHO.
Billiones said this capital town’s health center has free blood testing to determine if one has HIV.
The results of these tests are treated highly confidential, Billiones assured. (With Vicente Villavert/PIA/PN)
