‘More female drug users may drive AIDS epidemic’

MANILA, Philippines - The rising number of female injecting drug users (IDUs) could drive the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) has warned.

PNAC executive director Ferchito Avelino said the Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry of the Department of Health (DOH) had monitored more female IDUs who were infected with the AIDS virus last year.

The number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country has reached almost 5,000 as of 2013.

“One thing that is alarming us is that in 2011, we have documented a marked increase in the number of people who inject drugs and who are HIV positive and these are men. But in 2013, we also saw women… So we are now seeing both women and men,” he told The STAR.

Avelino said the country “will be seeing infants born to HIV mothers” if the situation is not immediately addressed.

“The country really has to move fast. We are now there. The epidemic is transcending from generalized epidemic to concentrated epidemic. It could eventually spill into the general population. There will be a boom,” he said.

PNAC is comprised of 26 government agencies, civil society groups and organizations that was created in 1992 by Executive Order 39 as an advisory body to the Office of the President on all matters related to AIDS.

DOH records show that in 2013, there were 4,814 new HIV/AIDS cases, bringing to 16,516 the total number of cases since the registry started in 1984.

Of the 4,814 cases, 271 were injecting drug users who shared contaminated needles. Sexual contact accounted for 4,540 cases with 2,304 homosexual, 717 heterosexual and 1,519 bisexual.

“The epidemic in the Philippines started with heterosexual transmission in the 80’s. It was small and eventually the infection reached a group of males who are engaging in MSM (males-having-sex-with-males) and we saw a spike in cases,” Avelino said.

The DOH started to monitor HIV cases among IDUs in Cebu City in 2010.

Avelino raised concern that there are HIV cases among IDUs that are not being monitored. “Would you believe? There is no report in Metro Manila,” he said.

He said the AIDS virus could spread faster if people practice risky sexual and drug behavior.

He claimed “the time is ripe and right for an epidemic,” explaining that in every epidemic, there is a point when cases would peak and then reach a plateau before going down.