The Philippines is projected to have about 215,400 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases by the end of 2024, according to Department of Health (DOH) data.

Of the estimated persons living with HIV (PLHIV), 122,241 cases, or 57 percent, have been diagnosed or laboratory-confirmed and are currently living or not reported to have died as of March 2024.

Further, 79,643, or 65 percent, of PLHIV are currently on life-saving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), of which 35,277, or 44 percent, have been tested for viral load (VL) in the past 12 months.

Among those tested for VL, 30,996, or 88 percent, are virally suppressed. However, only 39 percent of PLHIV on ART were virally suppressed.

From January to March 2024, there were 4,325 new clients enrolled in Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), representing a 13 percent increase in new enrollees compared to the same period in 2023.

Of the enrollees in the first quarter, 39 were under 18 years old, 1,682 were 18 to 24 years old, 1,993 were 25 to 34 years old, and 559 were 35 years old and above.

Sixty-one percent, or 3,790, of the newly enrolled in PrEP were from Metro Manila.

Of the newly reported confirmed HIV cases this period, 3,190 (94 percent) were male, while 219 (6 percent) were female.

Since 2021, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases reported monthly has been increasing, the DOH noted. From an average of 1,027 monthly cases reported in 2021, it increased to 1,502 cases per month in 2023. However, during the first quarter of 2024, there was a notable decrease in the average monthly cases to 1,136.

Mode of transmission

Over the past five years, sexual contact has remained the predominant mode of transmission among newly diagnosed cases.

However, a slight increase has been observed in the number of diagnosed cases acquiring HIV through mother-to-child transmission among children under five years old, rising from 16 cases in 2018 to 29 cases in 2022, and reaching 43 newly reported cases in 2023.

Moreover, among the 129,767 reported cases from January 1984 to March 2024, 124,959 (96 percent) acquired HIV through sexual contact. This includes 75,702 cases attributed to male-male sex, 31,266 to male-male/female encounters, and 17,991 to male-female sex.

Additionally, 2,591 cases resulted from sharing infected needles, 347 from mother-to-child transmission, 19 from blood/blood products and needlestick injuries, while 1,838 had no data on the mode of transmission.