Cayetano seeks integration of HIV-AIDS lessons in schools

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Pia Cayetano is proposing the enactment of a law to strengthen the Philippine Comprehensive Policy on HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support program for victims.

Cayetano filed Senate Bill 3398 seeking to mandate the integration of basic and age-appropriate instruction on the causes, modes of transmission and ways of preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections in subjects taught in public and private schools.

The topic shall be taught at intermediate grades, secondary and tertiary levels, including non-formal and indigenous learning systems.

Cayetano said all public and private employees should also be educated about HIV and AIDS, including the military and the police.

Under Cayetano’s proposal, the law should also give access for treatment to patients. Counseling and HIV testing services shall also be available at facilities accredited by the Department of Health.

It also addresses how to deal with the disease to avoid the climate of stigma that surrounds the epidemic and the people directly affected by it.

Cayetano is proposing that the Philippine National Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) develop an insurance package for persons living with HIV. It shall include coverage for in-patient and outpatient medical and diagnostic services, including medication and treatment.

Philhealth shall also enforce confidentiality in the provision of these packages.

She proposed that no person living with HIV should be denied private health and life insurance coverage on the basis of the person’s HIV status.

The government shall promote and adopt a range of measures and interventions that aim to prevent, halt or control the spread of HIV, especially among key populations and vulnerable communities.

The program can be done in partnership with civil society organizations, the bill said.

“The government shall therefore actively promote safer sex behavior, especially among key populations; safer practices that reduce risk of HIV infection; access to treatment; consistent sexual abstinence and sexual fidelity; and consistent and correct condom use,” Cayetano said.

Senate bill 3398 aims to establish the Philippine National HIV and AIDS program, with the end view of revising the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998.

“These measures shall likewise promote the rights, welfare, and participation of persons living with HIV and the affected children, young people, families and partners of persons living with HIV,” the bill said.

Cayetano proposed the HIV and AIDS prevention programs shall be based on up-to-date evidence and scientific strategies and shall be age-appropriate.

In the explanatory note, Cayetano said it has been 15 years since Republic Act 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998 was enacted into law.