Over 7 thousand sex workers, club dancers found with STD

CEBU, Philippines - More than 7,000 women who work as commercial sex workers, dancers or entertainers in different nightclubs and beer joints in Cebu City have been found positive of sexually-transmitted diseases.

Ten of them have also been found positive of Human-Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) while three others have full-blown Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) although one of them is already dead, health officials said yesterday.

In her report to Cebu City Hall, city health officer Fe Cabugao said they had conducted 32,313 physical examinations on women who went to her office last year to be physically examined at the Social Hygiene Clinic and 22 percent of them are positive of STDs.

Of the 32,313 women, 1,616 submitted themselves for HIV antibody test and 10 were found positive of HIV and three of AIDS.

“Nadunggan nako nga ang usa sa tulo ka Aids victims patay na,” said Durinda Macasocol, the assistant head of the City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit of the city health department.

She said the two other AIDS victims are undergoing counseling by government doctors who advised them not to engage in sexual anymore to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease.

The health officials said that the HIV is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail that will cause death.

Sexual contact is the primary mode of transmission while other causes include the sharing of needles.

Having multiple sexual partners and having unprotected sex with someone who is infected with HIV is also one of the causes of AIDS that is why the health officials are urging those who are not familiar with the sexual habits of their partners to always protect themselves by using a condom.

It was reported that women can be easily afflicted with HIV from men because the reproductive tracts of young women are prone to injury during sexual engagement increasing the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV.

A recent study showed that only few of the women commercial sex workers have the courage to assert their right to be protected from risky sex by convincing their partners to use condoms during sex.

Some sexually transmitted diseases can cause pelvic infections that may lead to scarring of the reproductive organs, which can result in an ectopic pregnancy —a pregnancy outside the uterus— and infertility for women.

The STDs can be passed from a mother to her baby before, during, or immediately after birth. The health experts believe that having an STD that is not AIDS increases one’s risk for becoming infected with AIDS. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)