162 OFWS contract HIV annually since 1984
The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), has reached a total of 5,537 in the past 34 years or an average of 162 per year, records from the Department of Health have shown.
Both Reps. Harlin Neil Abayon III and Aniceto John Bertiz III of party-list Aangat Tayo and ACTS-OFW, respectively, cited the statistics as they called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Overseas Workers Welfare Adminis- tration (OWWA) to address the problem.
“OWWA must improve the anti HIV-AIDS component of its welfare programs for OFWs. OWWA needs more tools and projects to combat loneliness and promote safe sex practices among OFWs, especially male OFWs,” Abayon, a nurse by profession, stressed.
He added that, “the approach of OWWA must be with caring and concern” as he noted that “most of the 5,537 or about 70 percent got HIV through male-tomale sexual contact.”
The figure, which runs from January 1984 to February 2018, represents 11 percent of the country’s 52,280 HIV-AIDS cases.
“Eleven percent is a very significant figure and this is more than enough basis for the OWWA to give attention to this problem,” Abayon maintained. In 2017, he said 814 OFWs tested positive for HIV.
From January to February this year alone, there have been 140 cases reported among OFWs.
Early this month, assistant minority leader Abayon revealed that 40 children, aged 10 to 19 years, were infected with HIV through sexual intercourse. Of the number, two contracted the virus through male-to-female sex, 25 via male-to-male contact, while 13 had sex with both male and female partners.
“As a registered nurse, I am deeply troubled by these figures because even postmillennial youth are getting infected with HIV through sexual intercourse,” Abayon stressed.
For his part, Bertiz said the total 5,537 cases among OFWs “is very unfortunate because if we look at the median age of these OFWs, at 32 to 34 years old, they are actually at the top of their lives in terms of potential workforce productivity.”
Citing registry statistics, the party-list opposition congressman said that from January to February this year alone, 140 OFWs – 129 males and 11 females – were diagnosed as HIV-positive.
“Almost all of the OFWs in the registry acquired the infection via sexual contact. The problem underscores the need for DOLE to invest more aggressively in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among workers in general and OFWs in particular. Awareness and prevention are our best tools against infection,” Bertiz said.