HIV capital
It was with disbelief that I read the news that our members of Congress, in their last few gasps before reelection (or maybe, not) had decided to cut the billion peso funding for reproductive health.
A landmark legislation that had divided the country and transformed erstwhile allies into enemies, and old enemies into instant allies, the reproductive health law was meant to do many things, including saving the lives of teenage girls, allowing the open distribution of contraceptives to a judgmental and still deeply religious society, and recognizing the autonomy of women over their bodies. It was one of the cornerstones of Senator Pia Cayetano's last term in the Senate, and was widely proclaimed by sober sectors of society as soon as the bill had been voted into law.
Then came a deceptive quiet. We had all assumed the issue was over, the battle was done. What we didn't know was we would be blind-sided a little later.
What a stab in the back, with this unexpected decision from the budget legislators. It was like cutting the knees off the legs of this vital law, leaving it not just handicapped, but maimed. The alibi, according to the legislators, is that we need the funds more to defend ourselves against China and its intrusion into the West Philippine Sea. So now the legislators are trying to make the citizenry take sides between nationalism and protecting our country from the bully that is China, on one hand, and a disease that "only" affects women, drug users, and the gay community. Tough choice.
Cebu City has just been named by The Atlantic as the HIV capital of the country, with a calamitous increase in the number of infections. Shared needle use by drug users has exponentially increased the infected, and the unsuspecting wives or partners of drug users are taking the hit.
The Atlantic also reports that it is not just Cebu that faces this epidemic. Seven other major centers in the country are reporting more and more infections, beyond what the United Nations has defined as a 'concentrated epidemic.' One would have thought that the government would be paying close attention to the alarming statistics of HIV, but it seems the caretakers of our society are too busy gearing up for their respective political campaigns.
Part of the solution would have been to make contraceptives more available, so that adherents to the safer sex philosophy would have access to condoms. This bill does just that. Money would have been available to give out condoms. Now, that avenue is foreclosed as well, leading us to question what the motives of Congress are, exactly. Is it really to give the toothless army more sticks and stones to face nuclear China?
Do our legislators understand the impact to the nation's health with what they just did? Do they realize that the greater the explosion is, the more costs they will actually have to bear than what these preventive measures entail?
It seems not. New York City has just intensified its campaign against HIV AIDS with its "Play Sure" campaign. The New York Times reports that aside from the usual free condoms that are to be distributed, there will be the accompanying lube (so that the condom doesn't tear and so that sensitive tissue is less prone to breaks that could allow the virus entry) as well as, and this is earth shaking news, the new preventive drug Truvada. Imagine!
So while advanced cities like New York are spending more, even though countermeasures against this virus have been around for decades, the Philippines, which is seeing the highest rates of infection worldwide, is taking its foot off the brakes. This can only be a recipe for a catastrophe.
Many activists have been constantly calling the attention of the decision makers. A popular cause, the anti-HIV platform may have helped give Miss Philippines a few more extra points for her to win the Miss Universe crown and sash. But that message, even if aired on international television across the universe, cannot be actualized without the funding necessary to see it through.
Congress has to rethink its position. And now is better than later. Otherwise, it will not just be Cebu, but the entire country, that will be the capital of AIDS. Surely, we don't want that distinction.
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