Love in the time of HIV
The most timely message for tomorrow, St. Valentine’s Day, came out in yesterday’s issue of Sun.Star Cebu. On page A10, the paper ran the “Vitals” on “Total Cases of HIV in the Philippines”.
According to the HIV and Aids Registry of the Philippines, there are 39,622 persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV), with nine percent, or 3,595, living in Central Visayas.
This puts Region 7 in the top five regions with PLHIV, from January 1984 to December 2016.
Included among the vulnerable are young people. Half of the 39,622 persons living with HIV are persons aged 25 to 34 years old. Sexual contact spread HIV among 37,385 PLHIV.
Of this group, 3,665 developed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids).
This national public health crisis demands proactive measures to educate the public for the prevention of the spread of HIV, as well as the testing, treatment, and other assistance available to PLHIV, their partners and families.
A major step is “coming out”. For those living with the fear of rejection, the expression, “coming out of the closet,” once meant self-acceptance and the courage to publicly admit they are homosexual.
Due to the rise of HIV cases, “coming out” also means seeking testing and treatment. In Cebu, two facilities provide these services: Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and the Cebu Social Hygiene Clinic.
It was only in May 2015 that the country held the first National HIV Testing Week.
In 2015, the Al-jazeera news website reported that HIV cases rose by 277 percent in the last five years. The statistics have a silver lining: health activists credit public openness to more PLHIV “coming out” and seeking testing and treatment.
“Coming out” also means more families and stakeholders providing the crucial support system for PLHIV.
These social shifts are crucial for countering the silence that once doomed many persons living with HIV to remaining faceless, voiceless, and alone.
Underreporting remains a major challenge in fighting HIV and Aids.
The same Al-jazeera report quoted professor and activist Danton Remoto as saying that the actual number of persons living with HIV may be 10 to 20 times higher than the official figures.
The contradictions within Philippine society is a factor. Fearing the corruption of the young, conservative families and influential institutions like the Roman Catholic Church resist state attempts to bring reproductive rights education to youths.
Yet, Filipinos are among the most active in social media, where sexual values and behavior ape and rival the liberalism of the West.
Filipino youths seek their peers and mass media, not their elders, on matters pertaining to relationships, studies attest.
However, sexual experimentation, premarital sex encounters, and increased sexual activity are not matched by improved sexual awareness and safe sexual behavior.
Recently, the Department of Health (DOH) gave up on its campaign to distribute condoms to senior high school students in public schools after facing heavy criticism from the Church and losing the support of the Department of Education.
The DOH said it will find other approaches to reach out to educate the public, particularly about using condoms and avoiding risky sexual behaviors like unprotected sex and multiple sex partners.
Stakeholders must also step up to fill the gap. To reach out to the young and vulnerable, information, education and communication campaigns must go online.
Pozziepinoy.blogspot.com is the official site of The Project Red Ribbon Care Management Foundation, Inc. This nongovernment organization offers an online support group, medical assistance to financially-challenged persons living with HIV, phone and home counselling, and other services.
The portal of choice for self-expression, the digital media must be wielded in the campaign to reverse the spread of an epidemic that claims so far 1,969 persons who died from HIV.