Palace, DOH back Recto’s proposed P1-B plan to fight HIV/AIDS

The Department of Health and Malacañang have expressed their support for Senator Ralph Recto’s plan to augment the budget earmarked for programs aimed at combating the growing cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) in the country.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said that Recto’s suggestion is timely and that the government, through the DOH, continues to provide support for people afflicted with the disease.

“We welcome the idea of Senator Recto of providing additional funds for HIV. The thrust of the program currently is on encouraging the high-risk population to have themselves tested; therefore, more cases are likely to be diagnosed,” the statement from the health department read.

“We are supporting Senator Recto in his proposal to strengthen programs which are focused on prevention and testing in order to provide more information regarding AIDS to Filipinos and encourage those belonging to the ‘high risk population’ to have themselves tested,” Coloma said on Sunday in a dzRB interview.

Recto said that the P1.08 billion budget for fighting HIV/AIDS will be used to fund treatment and testing of 35,000 confirmed and suspected cases.

“I have been told that this budget might not be enough if taken against the growing patient base. This budgetary item may have to be increased because other diseases like dengue are also included in the fund to combat infectious diseases,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

The senator was alarmed with the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country which hit a record-high last June with 772 new cases. According to the national HIV registry 26, 456 cases of the disease have been recorded in the country.