HIV cases to double yearly sans gov’t intervention

Without proper intervention by government, the incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) may double every year. Health secretary Esperanza Cabral cited data reaching her office indicating that since the last two months of 2009, up to four Filipinos can contract AIDS every day. “Dati ang diagnose natin one person per day, two persons per day last year. In the last two months of 2009 naging 4 persons per day (Before, we diagnosed one person with AIDS per day. It became two persons per day in 2009. But it became four since the last two months of 2009", Cabral said on government-run dzRB radio. She said her department’s data shows there are at least 4,000 HIV-AIDS cases in the country. If the government does not intervene, she said the trend of AIDS cases doubling every year may continue. Up to 95 percent of the AIDS cases were due to sexual transmission, she said. “Kung wala tayong gagawin every year dodoble ang number na ito (If we do nothing, we can see the number of cases double every year)," she said. On Friday, Cabral said they will invite the Catholic Church to a planned summit on stopping the spread of HIV-AIDS. “Number one sila sa guest list ... Sa March meron tayong summit sa HIV-AIDS, at dito papaliwanag natin ang estado ng HIV-AIDS sa ating bansa at ano ang pwede gawin at saan tayo pwede magtulungan (Church representatives will top the guest list when we hold a summit on HIV-AIDS in March. We hope to discuss what we can do to help each other stop the spread of the disease)," Cabral said in another interview on dzXL radio. The Church and the DOH had been at loggerheads since Valentine’s Day, when the latter distributed condoms. Cabral had chided the Church for blocking efforts to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS by distributing condoms as part of a three-pronged plan to deter the spread of the malady. However, she said that the DOH and the Church can still find ways to work together. “Sa ngayon alam ko sila nangangampanya sa abstinence and fidelity, tayo ay sang-ayon talaga. Ito ang first and second component sa prevention ng HIV-AIDS. Kung yan lang ang gagawin natin di ma-solve ang problema. Kailangan kumpleto ang programa (For now, the Church campaigns for abstinence from sex and fidelity to one’s partner. We are in agreement with that, but our point is that the two approaches alone are not enough. There must be a complete program)," she said. —LBG, GMANews.TV