NextGen Day

Due to interruptions in health services caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, Rep. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan) has warned that the Philippines could see a new rise in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the coming years.

“A total of 12,341 new HIV infections were confirmed in the country in 2021,” Defensor stated in a news release on Sunday, increasing 54 percent over the 8,036 new cases detected in 2020.

According to Defensor, the country’s total confirmed HIV cases could approach 100,000 in the first half of this year.

Last year’s new infections increased the total number of confirmed cases in the National HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) Registry to 94,337, according to Defensor.

“To deal with the growth in new infections and demand for treatment, the next Congress may have to raise annual spending for HIV prevention and treatment,” Defensor added.

He stated unequivocally that the Covid-19 pandemic has interrupted the delivery of HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services as well as access to them.

“As far as we can tell, the pandemic’s problems have deterred many Filipinos from getting HIV testing, even if they fear they are infected,” Defensor said.

“If a person living with HIV is not detected quickly away, that person may be transmitting the infection unwittingly,” he noted.

HIV is mostly transferred in the country through sexual intercourse, with males accounting for 81 percent of all infections.

AIDS is caused by HIV, which weakens the human body’s natural ability to fight infections.

Although there is no known cure for HIV, early detection and antiretroviral medication (ART) can limit the virus’s spread and lower the risk of transmission.

“We are concerned that a considerable number of Filipinos living with HIV may have stopped receiving treatment as a result of pandemic-related difficulties,” Defensor added.

“At the moment, just 63 percent of cases are being treated, which is well below the 90 percent target,” he continued.

As of December 2021, a total of 56,385 Filipinos living with HIV were receiving daily lifetime ART.

According to the national register, 96 percent (or 11,793 cases) of the 12,341 new infections last year were male, while 4% (or 548 cases) were female.

746 Filipinos who had worked abroad in the previous five years were among the new infected.

Last year, 893 Filipinos living with HIV died, increasing the total number of deaths on the registry to 5,373 since its inception in 1984.

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