The signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Quezon City HIV ordinance highlights Friday's celebration of World AIDS Day at Quezon Memorial Circle.

With the theme Strength in Solidarity, Together for QC Zero in 2030, Bahagi ka ng Solusyon, Mayor Joy Belmonte rallied other local government units to prioritize AIDS-related services and programs.

"We need to ensure that vulnerable and affected communities are involved. Today is a testament that Quezon City is keeping its promise to end AIDS by 2030. From institutionalizing our policy, we now laid down actionable measures," Belmonte said.

The HIV ordinance is one of the many initiatives of the Quezon City government to combat AIDS. Its salient points include the composition of the Quezon City AIDS Council, formulation of an Action Plan, creation of a TWG to monitor and make sure the action plan is implemented and funded, and strengthening the Service Delivery Network for People Living with HIV and their families.

Councilor Bernard Herrera, Chairperson of the Committee on Health and Sanitation, believes it is high time to strengthen further the actions towards ending AIDS as 2030 nears.

"There is no other day or year but now to sign the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the HIV ordinance. This is to ensure that there will be enough care and support, rights-based services, enough capacity for our service providers, and most importantly enough investment to implement and sustain the initiatives so we can end AIDS in 2030," Herrera said.

"This World AIDS Day, we wanted to stay true to our promise of solidifying our efforts and implementing concrete actions that will help us in reaching our goal. We continue to strengthen our efforts not just in the health services but also in tackling the human rights aspect of HIV and AIDS," shares Dr. Dave Anthony Vergara, Chief Health Operations Officer of the City Health Department.

Quezon City also believes in the role of education and the youth sectors in the fight against AIDS.

The City collaborated with the schools and barangays to create the HIV manual for high school students.

Gabriel Acosta Peralta, Sanguniang Kabataan Chairman of Barangay Batasan Hills saw this as an important step to empower the youth with knowledge and information.

"As a youth leader, this HIV manual for High School students will give us accurate and evidence-based information on HIV and AIDS. This will also open doors for conversations while sensitizing the youth with the right knowledge. After all, having the right knowledge is a way to empower our sector."

Empowering key populations and People Living with HIV, capacitating the duty bearers, and collaborating with various stakeholders and partners is what the Quezon City government implemented.

Through the partnership with TLF SHARE and EpiC, the members of the Quezon City STI, HIV, and AIDS Council have been engaged and guided in developing the QC HIV Strategic Action Plan and its Operational Plans as well as developing the manual of operations for Service Delivery Network.