One of three HIV patients is an OFW - DOH report

One of every three Filipinos with Human Immuno Virus or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is an overseas Filipino worker, according to the Department of Health. In a report that is part of the Philippines’ mid-term progress report on the Millennium Development Goals launched on October 10, the DOH said that most of OFWs infected by the disease are seafarers and domestic workers believed to be practicing unprotected sex. In 2006, a DOH report said the dreaded disease has reached an alarming level particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao where tourism reportedly doubled. In that report, the health department also noted a news article by a Manila newspaper saying that the disease is prevalent among Filipino women whose husbands are in the seafaring profession. In its 2007 midterm report, the DOH said that the total number of reported HIV/AIDS cases from January 1984 to December 2006 has already hit 2,719. Of the number, 72 percent (1,957) were without obvious symptoms, while 28 percent (762) were full-blown AIDS cases. From 2004 to 2006, the DOH has noticed an increase in the number of reported cases ranging from 200 to 300 annually, and that cumulative deaths already reached 298. HIV-infected OFWs now make up 35 percent of the total cumulative reported cases since 1984 and 42 percent of the newly reported infections. Underreporting The 2,719 reported HIV cases is very different from government estimates in January 2006, which reached 11,168 –almost double that of the DOH projection of 6,000 in 2002. The DOH theorized that the social stigma that the disease brings maybe one of the reasons for underreporting, especially in a predominantly Catholic population. Previous DOH studies identified four types of people who are considered to be at high risk of HIV: men having sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSW), male clients of FSW, and injecting drug users (IDU). In an attempt to reverse the spread of the disease, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that government has increased the budget for the purchase of antiretroviral drugs to avert HIV. DOH’s National Epidemiology Center has adopted a system called the Integrated HIV Behavioral and Serologic Surveillance, used in countries with low HIV epidemic. In March 2007, the Philippines and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) signed a letter of understanding on a joint program to address the growing problem on HIV among OFWs. Secretary Duque and Sunseta Mukherjie, UNPF representative, signed the agreement, which could also address a range of problems regarding migration and development. The joint undertaking contains a comprehensive package of national and local development interventions in selected provinces on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for OFWs and the community. Duque said that the country’s multi-sectoral response to HIV and migration is wanting, noting the limited services such as referral system of the health sector, outreach and education of families and returning OFWs infected with HIV/AIDS. - Luis Gorgonio, GMANews.TV