MANILA, Philippines — Close to 12,000 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) were reported to the Department of Health (DOH) last year, slightly surpassing the number of documented cases in 2017, a report showed yesterday.
Based on the HIV/AIDS Registry prepared by the DOH’s epidemiology bureau, there were 877 new cases reported last December, bringing the total for 2018 to 11,427.
Since January 1984, the country has recorded a total of 62,029 cases.
According to the DOH, 128 of the 877 cases have “clinical manifestation of advanced HIV infection” at the time of diagnosis. This means they already progressed into AIDS.
The data include four infected pregnant women, one case each from the National Capital Region and Regions 2, 3 and 4A.
To curb the rising cases of HIV in the country, the DOH has been advocating for all at-risk individuals to undergo testing. If they turned positive, the agency assured them of free anti-retroviral treatment in various treatment hubs across the country.
The HIV/AIDS Registry also showed that of the 877 cases, 281 belonged to the 15-24 age group while 479 were from 25 to 34 years old. Age bracket 35-49 accounts for 162 cases while 15 were above 50 years old.
“Sexual contact remains the predominant mode of transmission at 98 percent or 861 cases. Among them, 88 percent are men who have sex with men (MSM),” the DOH said.
The other mode of transmission reported was needle sharing among drug users (one percent, 10 cases).
There was no information for the rest of the cases.
The DOH noted that 32 new cases were being recorded every day last year, up from two in 2009; seven in 2011; 13 in 2013; and 22 in 2015.
The agency added that from 1984 to 2006, the predominant mode of transmission was male to female sex.
But from 2007, the registry showed that the “trend shifted to sexual contact among MSM as the predominant mode of transmission and has remained as such to the present.”
Data showed that from January 2013 to December 2018, a total of 41,796 or 83 percent of the 50,357 diagnosed cases were among MSM.