MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City health board has recommended the mandatory inclusion of reproductive health as a subject in the public school curriculum for high school students in the city.
City health officer Verdades Linga stressed the need for students to increase their level of awareness in areas of reproductive health, including in control and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV and AIDS.
During the recent program implementation review of the city’s STI/HIV/AIDS council, Linga noted the importance of promoting the use of condom.
“What the health board will be doing is strengthen condom use in Quezon City and erase the stigma that has always been associated with it,” she said.
She recommended setting up condom vending machines in strategic sites to make it more accessible to the public.
Quezon City is one of the cities in the country with high incidence of HIV infection. According to the Philippine AIDS registry, the city reported 613 cases of HIV from January to October alone.
The city has continuously increased its efforts to manage and control the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STIs.
Records show that the city has allotted P24 million for various projects last year, up from the P5 million allocation prior to 2012.
Earlier, Mayor Herbert Bautista underscored the importance of establishing additional social hygiene clinics in the city to provide people living with HIV greater access to quality health services.
The city has three social hygiene clinics and two sundown clinics, which have developed as places of treatment and referral for people with confirmed cases of STIs.