PB Ouano urges health offices to conduct info drive vs STD

CEBU, Philippines - Amidst the rising cases of the dreaded Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS) in the country and with a recorded 1,232 new cases from January to May this year, local government units in Cebu are urged to conduct information drives against the spread of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases.

Principally authored by Cebu Sixth District Provincial Baord Member Thadeo Ouano, the resolution also urged the Department of Health, city and municipal health offices to conduct such information campaigns.

Ouano cited the report by the World Health Organization which revealed that every year, an estimated 106 million people are infected with gonorrhea. People with gonorrhea have a high risk for HIV-infection.

“The only way to prevent STD is to conduct a comprehensive information drive to let the people know about these diseases together with the alarming new developments,” Ouano stated.

Based on records obtained by The FREEMAN from the Aids-Free Philippines, there are now a total of recorded 9,596 cases of HIV/AIDS resulting to 359 deaths.

Aids-Free Philippines said that 97 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS were males with 20-29 year old age groups having the most number of cases.

Of the total number of HIV/AIDS cases (9,596), majority or about 89 percent (8,689) were contracted through sexual contacts followed by injecting drug users (376), mother-to-child transmission (60), blood transfusion (25), needle pricked (15) and 438 cases were unknown on how the mode of transmission were made.

The group’s data shows that on the nationwide scale, majority of those who were infected were through homosexual contact (41 percent or 4,026); through heterosexual contact (33 percent or 2,890) and 26 percent or 2,686 through bisexual contact.

Of the total 1,232 new HIV/AIDS cases in the country, 63 percent are in Metro Manila, 21 percent in Central Visayas, 12 percent in Calabarzon and four percent in Davao.

Here in Cebu, based on the cases received and diagnosed by Aids-Free Philippines from 1995 up to May this year, there were already 538 cases wherein 378 were HIV and 143 AIDS. It resulted to 54 deaths.

Majority of those who were infected were 499 males and 39 were females aged 17 to 58.

Aids-Free Philippines added that the Philippines together with Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, are the countries showing steady increase of HIV/AIDS cases in the Asia-Pacific region.

Aids-Free Philippines added that commercial sex workers used to be the primary source of HIV/AIDS cases in the Philippines from 1985 to 2007 but from 2008 to present, there is a big shift showing male-to-male transmission as the current major mode of transmission.

Aids-Free Philippines also observed that there is an increasing trending of HIV cases among injecting drugs users, 95 percent of these cases are in Cebu. — (FREEMAN)