‘Over 10,000 new HIV cases recorded in 2017’

The number of Filipinos afflicted with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continued to increase, reaching over 10,000 cases in 2017, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.

Data from the DOH’s HIV and AIDS Registry showed a total of 10,111 new HIV cases, including 428 deaths recorded from January to November 2017.

The figure, the DOH said, includes 1,277 HIV cases that have progressed into full blown AIDS.

According to the DOH, the number of new HIV cases posted in the first 11 months of 2017 was way above the total of 8,514 recorded during the same period in 2016.

In November of 2017 alone, a total of 894 new HIV cases were reported to the DOH. For the same month, the DOH recorded 13 deaths due to AIDS while 127 HIV cases have progressed into full blown AIDS.

The DOH noted that a majority or 96.5 percent of newly recorded HIV and AIDS acquired the infection through sexual transmission.

Of the 863 who acquired the infection through sexual transmission, 563 were through homosexual contact, 239 through bisexual contact and 90 through heterosexual contact.

Sixteen people acquired the infection through needle sharing among injecting drug users while four were children who got the infection from their mother, the DOH said.

The National Capital Region still accounted for the biggest number of new HIV cases with 303 followed by Calabarzon with 164 and Central Luzon with 94.

Central Visayas posted 63 cases and Davao region registered 55 cases in November.

A total of 72 overseas Filipino workers were also afflicted with HIV, almost all of whom got infected through sexual contact.

The DOH has recorded 49,733 HIV cases, including 4,942 AIDS cases and 2,397 deaths since January 1984 to the present.