HIV/AIDS...

AIDS abroad, he said that the missing piece in the Philippines’ prevention of HIV/Aids is Prep and that it needs to be a national policy.

“We are working to uplift treatment and care for our HIV patients. Prep should be a national policy. That’s preexposure prophylaxis (Prep) for high risk people. This is a medicine being taken by people who have high risk behavior for HIV. This is already recommended by international guidelines as of three years ago. It’s proven to be at least 90 percent effective in preventing HIV prevention,” he said.

Prep is advised to be taken by high-risk patients once a day every day. When the patient who had had sexual activities with someone positive of HIV/ Aids, the virus will not enter his/ her cells because the medication is already absorbed by his/her system.

Practicing safe sex such as using condoms may help prevent the risk of HIV/Aids, Gangcuangco, however, said there might still be instances that the people involved may not be able to do this. He said medications such as Prep may be more assuring.

Gangcuangco also said in the Philippines there is a daily record of about 30 Filipinos getting HIV daily. He said in the early 2000's, the virus was primarily imported and was taken from abroad through Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) balikbayans. Now, they are through infection within the community.

In Davao City, the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center (RHWC) had recorded about 163 cases from January to April of this year. Out of this number, 135 are afflicted with HIV while 27 have Aids. Also, 156 are males while seven are females.

“I think one of the factors of this is the easier accessibility to sex. Now, everything is online, finding a sexual partner is easier through online dating apps. Sex is so much more accessible in the age of internet,” said Gangcuangco.

He, however, said that with their study they have recognized an increased detection among the patients. Increase detection means decrease incidence, he added. JPA