This is a race that we could win. Education and an effective information drive are needed to emerge triumphant against

The fireworks were lovely to look at. Really.

Setting aside the controversies that hounded the preparations, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games were off to a good start. The athletes will now try to complete the Philippine charge to the fullest.

There are many things to look forward to in this hosting of the biennial games. For one, the country is on track of another SEA Games overall championship.

It has been more than a decade since we last won our first and last one. That year — 2005 — was memorable for all the achievements our present athletes are trying to replicate.

But as we cheer them on, several families are mourning over the deaths of their loved ones for another reason.

A young Filipino dies of HIV-related complications every 12 hours. That is a staggering number.

This was according to Rep. Mike Defensor, who raised an alarm over the 66 percent surge in HIV-related deaths in recent months.

But his announcement was drowned out by our cheers for our athletes. So, allow us to take this opportunity to remind each and every one of us about this health scourge.

Defensor made his statement on the eve of this month, when our focus was somewhere else.

You see, December is AIDS Awareness Month.

Defensor may have used his opportunity to warn us about these numbers as there is still a need to raise awareness about HIV-AIDS, especially in our country, which has logged the fastest-growing number of victims in the past few years.

It is also time to commemorate those who have passed on.

Along with these, we also have reasons to celebrate victories against the twin health issues, such as increased access to treatment and prevention services.

At present, government is still working double time to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV infections in public and private health facilities nationwide.

No less than Health Secretary Francisco Duque raised this specter as the Department of Health remains racing against time to lower, if not eradicate, HIV-AIDS from the Philippine map.

It is a tough challenge. But for now, Duque said there are 143 social hygiene clinics nationwide which are now offering free HIV counseling.

Also being offered are testing and community-based HIV screening while 150 HIV Treatment hubs are now providing treatment services.

These numbers are still far from ideal. But they are better than none or few.

The deaths are mostly likely male and between 15 and 34 years old.

Defensor called the “growing number of deaths among Filipinos with HIV is unacceptable.”

Free treatment is now available, according to him. It can allow victims to enjoy almost normal lives.

But recent cases reveal that we are far from being normal.

The Quezon City government, for instance, disclosed that there are a reported 505 new HIV cases from January to July, 486 of which were male and 19 were female.

In July alone, 77 new HIV cases have been reported.

Cases have also increased in the NCR (26,832), Calabarzon (10,431), Central Luzon (6,543), Central Visayas (6,153,) and Davao (3,917). Among those diagnosed, 94 percent (65,079).

Victims were mostly young male in the 25-34 years old bracket.

Prevention and preventive action are needed to be stressed here.

But this is a race that we could win. Education and an effective information drive are needed to emerge triumphant against HIV-AIDS.

It matters to be united here to win as one.

The world held World AIDS Day on the first of December, bringing attention once more to the dreaded epidemic that had inflicted fear and created a stigma that just can’t seem to go away for decades now.

On the 31st year of the celebration, the World Health organization reported that almost 38 million people globally are now living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as of the end of 2018.

The Philippines is one of the countries with recorded cases of HIV infection.

In fact, Health Secretary Francisco Duque is alarmed by the growing number of HIV-related deaths.

He told media that the number of diagnosed cases has “been increasing from one per day in 2008 to 35 per day as of July 2019,” based on a recent Department of Health (DoH) report.

By numbers, world figures reveal that the Philippines is among the countries with the lowest incidence of HIV infection, but we have the highest rate of increase per year.

In the 2018 UNAIDS Global Report, it was noted that our country posted a 203 percent in the estimated new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific.

The United Nations agency also reports that worldwide, 770,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2018.

This boggles Duque because government has been “working double time” to control the rise in HIV infection. The goal, he said, is to “prevent, diagnose and treat” HIV infections nationwide through public and private health facilities.

Also available are “free HIV counseling, testing and screening.” Special HIV treatment hubs have been added all around the country as well.

On Sunday, Rep. Mike Defensor contributed to the talk by saying “every 12 hours, a young Filipino dies of HIV-related complications,” as reported online.

There has been a “66 percent surge in deaths,” he added.

Further troubling is the fact that these deaths are among mostly male between 15 and 34 years of age.

This should make us think about the current circumstances surrounding the Filipino lifestyle and continued lack of knowledge about the disease, which can be prevented and treated, after all.

Government may have been working intensively, as Secretary Duque insists, but clearly there is a need to deepen the drive even more. Imagine “505 new human immunodeficiency virus cases from January to July,” as reported by the local government of Quezon City alone!

Efforts to encourage individuals to get tested may be the reason for the increase in numbers, but as the DoH also observed, there remain many undiagnosed cases because of fear and stigma.

The virus, not many still know, can be suppressed through the anti-retroviral therapy or ART. Also, as with all forms of diseases, prevention is better than cure.

And one effective way to ensure more vigilance and care is knowledge about the disease. HIV infection has three stages, the last of which is AIDS.

In the first stage, according to the Center for Disease Control, a person will “experience a flu-like illness within two to four weeks after infection” which can last for a number of weeks. This is the stage that makes the virus highly communicable from the infected person.

The second stage “can last decades depending on treatment,” it is said, and can still make the infected person able to transmit the disease to others. The scary part is that person may not exhibit symptoms. Only a test can show if a person has HIV. This is the part where our Health department keeps issuing warnings to people who are sexually active or who engage in male-to-male sex because it has been shown to be the cause of most diagnosed cases.

The virus damages one’s immune system over time, so that when AIDS develops, it is usually deadly.

This current air of YOLO or living like it’s the last day of your life can be liberating to most, but in the realm of health and overall wellness, it may lead to being a social disease if we aren’t careful.