HIV cases, after lull in testing, are now back to pre-pandemic level

MANILA, Philippines — Cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are back to their pre-pandemic levels, a direct result of testing catching up from months of lull when movement restrictions prevented patients from getting much needed care.

More testing is showing the Philippines is far from winning the battle against what advocates said is a “silent” epidemic long in our midst before COVID-19 preoccupied struggling public health systems. The phenomenon also reveals that while government encourages people to stay indoors to control the pandemic, young people not allowed out until recently are triggering a spike in new HIV cases.

As testing centers reopened to accommodate 30% of their typical capacity, health department data showed HIV cases surged to 1,219 in September alone, the highest since February just before lockdowns shut down activities in the archipelago. 

In October, cases went down to 735, also a 36% drop year-on-year, although still way up from an average of 372 cases at the height of quarantines in March to June. Before the latest data was released, Benjamin Co, an infectious disease doctor at UST Hospital, already warned that months of lower HIV detection was “just a blip.”

“(We) are in a lockdown, so there are restrictions on mobility… (Only) a few people engage in solicited or unsolicited sex, and there is little interaction during this period,” Co said in an interview.

But in testing centers, there was a different assessment. Ronivin Pagtakhan, founder of LoveYourself PH, an HIV prevention advocacy group, said a fifth to a quarter of their testing these days are turning positive, up from just 10-12% daily before the coronavirus health crisis. 

It’s an alarming trend that he hopes only indicated a backlog in testing during the quarantine period. From 100 screenings per day, Pagtakhan said LoveYourself PH is now only able to conduct 30 diagnosis a day, following COVID-19 health protocols, at least 6 of whom are turning out positive for the virus.

“These are clients who are aware of their sexual behavior and risk and wanted to get tested but there was no way to do so before (because of lockdown), Pagtakhan said in an online exchange.

Lost access

From January to October 2020, data showed HIV infections hit 6,352, down 41.6% year-on-year. A total of 60% of cases were contracted through male-to-male sexual contact, with men accounting for the bulk of cases. By age group, 30% of cases were diagnosed from 15-24 year-old youths in 2019, the latest period on which data is available.

In Metro Manila, where 50% of diagnosed cases are detected by LoveYourself PH, 2,049 people were found HIV positive for the first 10 months. That number accounted for 32% of total infections. The region was followed by Calabarzon with 18% of the cases and Central Luzon with 14%.

Overall, the Department of Health found 21 people getting tested as HIV positive every day last year.

With free onsite testing operating only partially, LoveYourself PH has started selling self-testing kits last October to help detect more cases and prevent HIV spread. But patients being asked to pay for the product has been a stumbling block to broader access. This even as state subsidized HIV treatment had gone unhampered during the pandemic.

“We only had 2,000 self-testing kits for the pilot program which yielded 125 new positives,” Pagtakhan said. “Given the situation, we need to innovate to provide options for our clients to ensure their well-being.”

The writers are journalism students from University of Santo Tomas. The story was edited following Philstar.com's editorial guidelines.