Is AIDS Prevention and Control Act implemented well?

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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Sunday, September 3, 2017
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MANILA – The Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act was approved in 1998, and yet the number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections continues to rise today.

HIV causes AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which remains to be without cure.

Sen. Leila de Lima wanted legislators to look into the implementation of the law.

Since 1998, “the State had a mechanism [that aim] to prevent the extensive outbreak of this disease from happening,” she said in Senate Resolution No. 475.

In May, 1,098 new HIV antibody sero-positive individuals were recorded in the HIV, AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines – 48-percent higher than the number in the same period last year – de Lima said, citing a Department of Health report.

HIV infection rate among people aged 15 to 24 years old rose to 28 percent in 2011-2016 from 25 percent in 2006-2010, and as of March this year, 11,550 of the 42,283 recorded HIV-positive people were from the 15-24 years old age group, the Health department said.

The Health and Education departments and the Commission on Higher Education must “intensify [the] implementation of mechanisms currently in place, and evaluate if these are still sufficient and responsive to present circumstances,” said de Lima.

She also asked the Senate to review the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act for possible revisions.

“It is imperative for the Senate as part of the policymaking body of the government to review any existing laws and look into how concerned government agencies are addressing the campaign against HIV [and] AIDS,” she said.

Aside from insufficient knowledge on HIV and AIDS, de Lima said technology was also a factor in the rise of infections.

Dating applications that “make finding sexual partners online easy” were getting more and more popular, and “lured people into unsafe or unprotected sex,” said the senator./PN
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