TUCP Urges DOH to Declare National Emergency Over Growing HIV Epidemic

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) today is calling on the Department of Health (DOH) to declare a national emergency over human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic amid an epic increase of cases among key vulnerable populations in the country.

“We are calling on the Department of Health to declare a national epidemic on the spread of HIV that leads to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Let us come out from our complacency and face this battle head on by fully implementing stand-by strategies in order to stop this growing burden. Let’s us fight the spread of disease before it gets to our children,” said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay explained that the labor center hopes that by such declaration government carry out an aggressive and surefire intervention by mobilizing its massive political and economic resources in coping with the growing problem on the spread of the virus.

 In the 2014 Global AIDS Response Progress Report to be submitted by Philippine government to the United Nations, Tanjusay said the country has failed this early to meet the 2015 target of reducing HIV spread.

The report prepared by DOH’s National Epidemiology Center (NEC) about HIV monitoring and survey they conducted on key affected populations, it was learned that out of the 1,115 sex workers (SW) tested within the first four months of 2014 alone, there are already 20 or 1.8% of them found to have HIV infection compared with only 26 or .275% out of 9,797 tested for the whole year in 2012.

The report also shows that out 4,804 men having sex with men (MSM), 160 or 3.3% of them are found to have infected within the first quarter of the year compared with only 90 or 1.68% with HIV out of 5,353 for the whole year in 2012.

Among the people who inject drugs (PWID), meanwhile, 401 or 46.1% out of 869 were infected with HIV during the first quarter of the year while only 13.56% or 174 of them have HIV out of 1,283 tested for the whole year two years ago.

The other most-at-risk and vulnerable populations are the people living with HIV, overseas Filipino workers, and partners of PLHIV, SW, MSM, PWID, and OFWs.

Based on this trend, without concrete strategy and an effective massive information campaign on HIV and AIDS from government and civil society organizations in place, Tanjusay said the rate of infection will improve from the current 16 to 32 infections per day.

“With all these indications, it looks like our government health probers sort of struck one HIV nerve after another. From our point of view, it is very obvious now that HIV threat poses a clear and present danger to our people especially on key affected populations and most vulnerable sectors. Government must now aggressively intervene before it creeps out of control,” Tanjusay added.

He said the TUCP also received reports that there is a daily long queues of patients in popular treatment hubs and testing centers located at the Philippine General Hospital, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), and the Bahay-Lingap in San Lazaro hospital in Metro Manila and in various government clinics in Cebu and in Davao City seeking free access to testing and anti-retroviral drugs.

From 1984 to March 2014, there were 17,948 HIV/AIDS cases as recorded by the NEC. The NEC also estimates there are at least 1.794 million cases within the same period if HIV/AIDS testing is made mandatory. If mandatory HIV testing is implemented, the reality could be worse. However, mandatory testing is deemed unlawful by the Republic Act 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act.
The number puts the government unable to comply with parameters set by the UN to reduce the number of HIV and AIDS cases to less than 1 percent of the country’s general population by 2015.

The status also ranks the Philippines seventh among countries in the world with increasing incidence of HIV cases. The top six countries with increasing HIV cases are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

TUCP Press Release
Released: Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Contact: Alan Tanjusay 0906.410.2134

Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-Mimaropa had a recent interview with Dr. FERCHITO AVELINO, Executive Director, Philippine National AIDS Council Secretariat, when he conducted an re-orientation at the PIA Central Office.
The interview, conducted in Filipino, discussed basic information on HIV and AIDS as well as its prevention and treatment.
Watch them all at these links: http://bit.ly/1vP2cKA, http://bit.ly/1hey55H and http://bit.ly/1gV7ujB.
Although there were technologies reported to have shown potentials to treat HIV and AIDS, there is still no cure (as of this writing) and prevention remains the best way to arrest the spread of disease.