Pinoy sailors urged to test for HIV

Manila, Philippines -  Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list group Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association yesterday urged sexually active Filipino sailors to test for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to safeguard their partners here at home.

“It is not exactly a secret that many sailors are exceptionally vulnerable to HIV, owing to their easy access to commercial sex services overseas, plus they have the money to pay for it,” said Ty, a crusader against HIV/AIDS.

In foreign ports, paid sex workers routinely board ships making port calls, he said.

He is one of the authors of Bill 5312, which seeks P400 million to jumpstart a new HIV/AIDS prevention and control program with forceful strategies and definite targets.

HIV causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS, which destroys the human body’s immune system. It does not have any known cure. However, early detection and treatment can slow down the ailment.

As of May 30, Ty said a total of 1,921 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been diagnosed HIV-positive.

They account for 20 percent of the 9,669 cases in the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, he said.

Of the 1,921 HIV-positive OFWs, he said 97 percent (1,859 cases) were infected due to sexual contact, and 85 percent (1,631 cases) were asymptomatic or did not show any symptoms of infection.

He said 77 percent of the HIV-positive OFWs, or 1,488 cases, were males with the median age of 35 years.

“We have reason to believe many of these HIV-positive OFWs may be sailors,” he added.

Ty noted that sailors do not undergo any medical examination every time they are deployed abroad, especially if they work for a single employer or shipping firm.

“They usually get tested only once, shortly before they are initially recruited by the employer. After that, the sailors go abroad for a few months, come home for a furlough, and then go back to work without any subsequent health checks,” he said.

While on vacation here, without knowing it, they may have already acquired HIV in a foreign country and contaminated their sexual partners here at home, he said.

“As a precaution, we would encourage these sexually active sailors to voluntarily undergo HIV-testing every time they come home, for the sake of their partners here. Also, the earlier they get diagnosed, the sooner they can seek treatment,” he said.

More than 350,000 Filipino sailors serve on board foreign oceangoing vessels at any given time.

They sent home a record $1.532 billion from January to April this year, up $195 million or 14.58 percent from the $1.337 billion they remitted in the same four-month period in 2011.