TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Rural Health Unit- III of Tabuk City expressed concern yesterday over human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positivity rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) which is described as worsening.
In an interview with rural health physician Dr. Gwendolyn Gabit, she said that the fact that HIV prevalence among MSM is so high means that members of this group have an increased chance of being exposed to the virus due to mainly having sexual relations within this group.
However, she said that there are also other factors that put MSM at heightened risk of HIV.
She added that MSM between 15-24 years old pose high HIV infection and sexual risk but only a few do not want to know their HIV status through a voluntary testing.
With 27 reported cases of HIV infection daily in the country, Gabit disclosed that there is one case of HIV in Tabuk City and is now undergoing treatment. In total, she said that there were six cases from the city since the HIV testing was started in 2010.
In 2016, only 30 individuals went for testing and only 11 for the first quarter of 2017.
When asked about the reliability of HIV testing results, Gabit said that it is strengthened by a sequence of confirmatory tests done at accredited health institution like nearby Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) and Baguio General Hospital (BGH). All samples with reactive (‘positive’) results or with results that are difficult to interpret are re-tested several times and samples with negative results are not routinely re-tested.
The rural health physician also said that those who were tested to be infected with HIV will not be admitted nor isolated but instead be counselled for an effective treatment procedure and medicines are given free for a lifetime treatment.
As regards to the mode of transmission, the doctor said that only certain body fluids—blood, semen, pre- seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk—from an HIV-infected person can transmit HIV. Most commonly, people get or transmit HIV through sexual behaviors and needle or syringe use.
Alarmed by the situation, in 2015, the City Health Office (CHO) started its intensified information education campaign (IEC) on HIV, sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and teenage pregnancy awareness among selected 4th year high school students and started to distribute condoms and lubricants among the straight men and gays since 2016.
Described to be an alarming threat to human health, Gabit said that the IEC is the best strategy to eliminate HIV cases because it creates awareness as to how people can possibly be infected and what are the preventive ways to stop cases from soaring. Counseling service to risk groups such as the guest relation officers (GROs), MSM, uniformed men and pregnant women is also very significant, she said.
‘’Sexually active young people should get tested because the earlier they know their HIV status, the earlier they can seek care and treatment to improve quality of life,’’ Gabit emphasized. She also underscored the need to remove the stigma against the disease, saying it was one of the reasons why the virus continued to spread as target population was discouraged from getting tested due to fear of being discriminated against.
Article VII (Discriminatory Acts and Policies) of RA 8504 (Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998) prohibits all forms of discrimination among HIV infected people on the basis of their actual, perceived or suspected status.
Now a permanent service of Tabuk City RHU-III, the CHO reminded about the importance of getting tested and knowing your partner’s HIV status and advised to have less risky sex, to use condoms, to limit number of sexual partners, to get tested and treated for STIs, by talking to health care provider and not to inject drugs.
Darwin S. Serion
