CLARK FREEPORT—The government is expected to spend at least P500 million next year on antiretroviral drugs that delay the effects of the incurable disease acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
It spends between P8,000 to P30,000 for the yearly treatment of a person living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The amount that the government would spend on AIDS and HIV next year does not include funds needed for tuberculosis and pneumonia, which are complications of HIV.
But more than the cost, the biggest challenge to public health workers remains helping remove the stigma associated with AIDS and convincing more Filipinos having unprotected sex to be tested and be helped, said Dr. John Gerard Belimac, manager of the National AIDS and STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Prevention and Control Program of the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH records showed the Philippines has 24,376 HIV cases from January 1984, when the disease was first reported, to March 2015.
25 cases daily
In January to March this year, 25 cases had been reported daily and involved younger people, the government’s registry showed.
Central Luzon has 1,977 people living with HIV since 1984.
“But this is not just a medical issue. It’s also a social issue because people living with HIV, when stigmatized, get out of the workforce,” Belimac said at a media briefing before the launch of the DOH’s High Impact Five, an intensified health care program, here on Thursday.
Reversing the increase in HIV/AIDS cases is part of the new program. Belimac said HIV and its full-blown stage, AIDS, need to be “demystified” by correcting the perception that these are highly communicable diseases.
The virus is transferred through sexual intercourse, sharing needles, blood transfusion or mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy.
Living longer
The antiretroviral drug, which the government gives free, weakens the virus inside the body of an infected person, allowing the immune system to recover, making people living with HIV enjoy healthier and longer lives and delaying the development of AIDS.
DOH said at least 9,475 people living with HIV were on antiretroviral therapy as of March.
The recent National HIV Testing Week saw more than 3,000 people who volunteered to undergo HIV test in Central Luzon, said Dr. Ma. Eloisa Vidal, Belimac’s counterpart in the region.
Belimac said this number was higher than the 1,500 people who took the test in seven cities in Metro Manila.
There are 91 HIV testing centers in Central Luzon, with HIV cases highest in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Zambales.
“How to communicate the message that there’s treatment for it is a challenge,” said Dr. Julian Bilous, a United Nations Children’s Fund consultant in the country. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon