EDITORIAL - On the rise

Decades after the first case of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was diagnosed in another country, the prevalence of AIDS and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus remains low in the Philippines. Some have attributed this to weak reporting and wrong diagnosis of symptoms, while others suspect that certain viruses do not thrive in this country.

Today, with potent cocktails of drugs proving effective in slowing the spread of HIV, public concern over AIDS is even lower than when Sarah Jane Salazar came out in the open to campaign against the spread of the disease that eventually claimed her life. But the low prevalence and improved treatment should not lull the country into complacency about a deadly disease.

The United Nations agency in Manila has warned that HIV infection has been increasing “at an unprecedented rate” among Filipino youth. The Department of Health has also reported that last year, 126 new AIDS cases were recorded – the highest in the past 25 years. Most of the cases involved sex between men aged 25 and 29 years old, the DOH reported.

Government epidemiologists have warned that the ingredients for an AIDS epidemic are present in the country: a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, sex at an early age, low rate of condom use and insufficient knowledge about the disease. The epidemiologists point out that while many Filipinos are aware of AIDS, few people are aware of the three modes of HIV transmission, and still have numerous misconceptions about the disease.

The government is partly to blame for this, with its refusal to promote safe sex through the use of condoms. Under the Arroyo administration, the DOH has abandoned family planning and safe sex programs and has kept millions of women in the dark about their reproductive health.

The lack of information on AIDS/HIV is one of the factors behind the rising number of infections. From 41 cases in 2007, for example, 110 HIV infections were reported in 2008 among Filipinos aged 15 to 24. Noting that the rising number “has become a cause for alarm,” the UN has urged the Philippine government to improve its campaign against AIDS/HIV along with other deadly diseases, which is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Dealing with this scourge must be among the priorities of the DOH when a new administration is in place.