HE said — SHE said

While reports of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and acquired immuno deficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases are yet prevalent in the country, I guess it is right to highlight an alert made by a lawmaker on the recent cases that involved one as young as 10-years old and two pregnant mothers in their early 20s.

They are getting younger and Rep. Ron Salo cited recent statistics of the HIV-AIDS’ recent spread as “deeply disturbing.” He is right.

Salo used the recent Valentine’s Day celebration, when people become unusually romantic — and no thanks to commercialism, to warn and alert the public about the consequences of unprotected sex which remains the leading cause of transmission of the dreaded disease.

Sharing drug needles is the other one. HIV/AIDS could also be transmitted to a newborn baby from an infected parent.

Debunking other claims, however, HIV/AIDS could not be transmitted through fruits or fishes caught from, say, the Cebu waters where medical wastes were recently found floating. Don’t believe those soc-med memes; they were made by idiots.

HIV/AIDS, however, does not share the media mileage received by the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia and more recently, as a result of the scare, which led to the people’s lack of confidence in other vaccines and drugs, the measles outbreak.

“We need not wait for another death. There are ways to slow down the disease until a complete cure is found.

Coincidentally, while Salo was speaking about the HIV/AIDS spread, the Department of Health claimed the measles outbreak in affected areas in Luzon had reached 7,000 cases from the start of the year to the eve of Valentine’s Day. That’s a lot and, sadly, the scare is real.

There is no need to create an HIV/AIDS scare, but people – especially the young — need to be taught about the ways to prevent its spread.

I’ll quote the recent Daily Tribune report: “Salo said government and the private sector should join hands in campaigns to teach couples to adhere to safer ways of intimacy, even as he cited Department of Health (DoH) numbers on the rising cases of HIV/AIDS in the country.

“Salo also emphasized the DoH reported four pregnant mothers and 52 adolescents as among the 877 new HIV cases recorded recently.

“All the adolescents found to have been infected with HIV got it through sexual intercourse and two of them were in the 10-14 years age range. The four pregnant women with HIV are in the 22-25 age range.

“The latest report is deeply disturbing. We really need more prevention, education and other forms of effective intervention. The new law must be implemented fast.

“Considering that the 108 patients who said they paid for or received payment for sex were aged 17 to 53 years; that means for those who are 10-16 years old, there was no money involved. So, other factors like rape, sexual abuse, molestation or experimentation would have been present.”

Salo did not mention the manner of transmission through gender and sexual orientation. But other recent reports claimed high prevalence of transmission from male to male sexual contacts.

There is a newly enacted law that allows for teenagers aged 18-years old and below to undergo HIV testing even without parental consent.

This law is timely as we also need to erase the stigma against those infected with HIV/AIDS.

But this is going to be a long battle as the Philippines remains a patriarchal and macho society where the LGBT community does not enjoy equal treatment from society in general. They are even persecuted at most times.

But we are taking several baby steps to make it work for them. And it is right to begin with the young people.

“Persons younger than 15 who are pregnant or engage in high-risk behavior making them open to infection can also choose to be tested but with the assistance of a licensed social worker or health worker,” Salo said.

Of the new HIV cases reported, 846 of the 877 were male with the median age of 28 years old. Half of the cases were aged 25-34 years old and 281 were 15-24 years old at the time of testing.

Salo cited that 13 of the 71 HIV/AIDS-related deaths recorded last December 2018 were youth aged 15 to 24.

We need not wait for another death. There are ways to slow down the disease until a complete cure is found.

The recent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected fish scare is a sure sign of continued ignorance about the disease called acquired immuno deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

This could be why an “exponential” rise in the number of cases in the Philippines was noted — “from only one a day in 2008 to 32 a day in 2018,” posted reigning Miss Universe Catriona Gray in her Instagram account early this month.

In May 2018, Gray (then Miss Universe-Philippines 2018) got herself tested for HIV. It was her way of promoting awareness on testing, as she, like Miss Universe 2015 and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific Pia Wurtzbach, believes there is a serious lack of such among the youth.

Catriona said the death of a friend from HIV some years back lit in her this drive to push for the cause. “It’s just taking a step looking after yourself,” she told CNN Philippines then on getting tested.

The effort to lessen the stigma attached to the disease — even to getting tested, the first step that would help prevent it — has been lauded and shared by many, more so now than ever.

This is because more young people, disturbingly young some of them, have been getting infected. In a year that calls for more attention to health and well-being, government needs to pay more attention to the top diseases of our time.

In December 2018 alone, 877 new HIV cases were reported.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health’s (DoH) HIV/AIDS and Art Registry of the Philippines reported “954 new reported cases of HIV in the Philippines in September 2019, bringing the total to 8,533 from January to September 2019.”

In terms of “trend,” a report released during last year’s International Youth Day said “approximately 230 young people are newly infected with HIV in Asia and the Pacific every day and almost half a million young people between the ages 15 to 24 are living with HIV in the region.”

When you look at the numbers, it can seem overwhelming — and, indeed, it is. But we cannot let the deluge of figures quell the desire to curb the spread of the disease.

For sure, we cannot let our leaders bicker about this matter just as a few are doing in relation to the measles outbreak. If they must know, they sound more indifferent to the problem than in control of the situation.

On the other hand, we cannot let the sensitive topic, which is attached to some religious, social and sexual taboos, inhibit us from pursuing the cause.

Studies have shown that in the Philippines, “there is a growing HIV epidemic among young men having sex with men,” a report goes. But debates continue to be heated about the use of condoms in our country where the Catholic clergy espouses the rhythm method, chasteness before marriage and mixed views about homosexuality.

Although Health Secretary Francisco Duque says the number of HIV cases has “reached a plateau,” citing a slight rise in cases within the last two years, he still calls for a continued information drive to sustain the trend.

“We cannot let the sensitive topic, which is attached to some religious, social and sexual taboos, inhibit us from pursuing the cause.

For her part, Wurtzbach in a press statement last August urged leaders to address the causes that put young people at risk of HIV. “We live in a world where adolescents and young people, especially from key populations, are still left behind. We cannot fail to address their needs. I challenge the indifference and I call for action now,” she said during a conference in a local university.

“While the numbers appear alarming, the data shows us that we’ve been able to reach the affected population and increase the access to testing, which is a key step to stop the rising epidemic. To accelerate our vision to eradicate HIV, it starts with educating ourselves and then taking steps to get tested and to continue to take steps to care for ourselves. For more information and to find testing centers near you (TESTING IN PHILIPPINES IS FREE!), visit www.loveyourself.ph ❤🎗🇵🇭 If you’ve never been tested before for HIV, I have my first testing experience up on my YouTube channel in partnership with @loveyourself.ph ❤ if I can do it, you can too. Get Tested, know your status. Love yourself,” continued Catriona in her IG.