BAGUIO CITY – The social hygiene clinic of the city health services office confirmed the existence of 21 new cases of human immune virus among the sexually active population causing alarm among city officials on the proliferation of carriers of the dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the city.
Dra. Celiaflor Brillantes, head of the city government’s social hygiene clinic, said 90 percent of the new cases or 19 HIV carriers are males while two of them is a mother and child.
It was learned that HIV is the initial stage of full blown AIDS and that the same is acquired through sexual contract and blood transfusion among others.
Brillantes disclosed the new male HIV carriers contracted the virus through the so-called men having sex with men and that they did not use protective devices during their sexual contact, saying that the continuous discovery of new HIV cases in the city is already alarming, thus, the need for concerted action in order to empower the people to practice safe sex if they could not avoid such act.
The social hygiene clinic head underscored the importance of abstinence from sex, being faithful to one partner and use condom during sex for sexually active individuals from contracting the deeded illness and contribute in spreading the disease to other innocent individuals.
Brillantes cited the local health office embarked on an aggressive information and education campaign to compel sexually active people to seek appropriate medical attention for them to be able to ascertain whether or not they were able to contract the dreaded illness.
Last year, Brillantes revealed only 9 new HIV cases were reported and discovered but it suddenly increased to 21 new cases this year because of the reported increase in the number of commercial sex workers that came from the different parts of the country.
According to her, most of the male entertainers in the city which now number around 80 do not seek medical attention from the health department that is why they are the ones that have been pinpointed as the ones that continuously spread the dreaded illness.
Brillantes appealed to concerned sectors in the city to help the city health services office in intensifying its information and education campaign on the proliferation of HIV and AIDS so that sexually active individuals will be compelled to seek medical attention in the nearest medical facility to ascertain their health condition and for them to be given the appropriate medication once they are found to have contracted the illness.
Brillantes explained thaw worldwide rapid growth in the number of HIV carriers and people which have full blown AIDS could reach unimaginable levels in the coming years if concerned government agencies and health authorities are not able to control the continuous increase in the number of individuals contracting the dreaded illness annually, thus, parents also paly an important role in properly educating their children on sex education for them to be aware of the dangers of being afflicted with such illness.
By Dexter A. See
