Community health educators are doubling time to heighten public awareness and understanding about the human immune virus (HIV) leading to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Guesting in the recent edition of Kapihan sa DavNor, both Flor Lucas, Provincial Health Office Population Program Division head, and Rae Katherine Apura, health educator of Tagum City Health Office emphasized the need to speed up community education to go along with the rising trend of HIV cases not only in Davao del Norte but in the country.
Basing on the data on HIV in the Philippine Registry, Apura revealed that the number of those diagnosed with HIV per day used to be just nine per day, nationally. This had increased over time to 30 newly diagnosed with HIV per day in 2017; 34 per day in 2021; and 42 per day in 2022.
“Increasing, so double time sa mga (health) workers, sa mga volunteers ug mga advocates, “ Lucas said.
“Let us not deprive the Filipino people, the Tagumenos or mga tao sa atong probinsya of the information on HIV; continues lang gihapon ang atong ExplainExplainExplain,”Apura adopting the communication strategy of the Philippines to #ExplainExplainExplain for better understanding moving people to change behavior.
Meanwhile, Lucas cautioned that HIV infection is no longer a far-off concern of anyone as it now becomes a neighborhood situation worthy of everybody’s attention regardless of ethnicity, religion and sex.
He further revealed that all provinces in Davao Region including Davao City were monitored to have registered HIV cases, and that HIV cases were detected in all municipalities in Davao del Norte.
Davao City remained to have registered the highest number of HIV cases of 4,171 from 1993 to 2022 but Lucas cited as a concern that Tagum City came next highest in number of HIV cases at a total of 769 from 1993 to 2022.
Apura agreed that indeed Tagum City contributed a large portion of the HIV cases in Davao del Norte that she attributed to high awareness level on the availability of free HIV testing and the heightened community information and education drive.
Per HIV data registry in the Philippines, the high incidence of HIV positives fall on the 25-to-34 year-old and on the 15-to 24-year-old brackets of the population who are usually are sexually active and whose sexual curiosity is naturally extreme.
Looking further into the data of HIV positives, cases are high on men having sex with men though there were also positives on male having sex with female, and children positive of HIV that they had acquired from their mother.
Noting at the seemingly untenable rise of HIV cases, Lucas and Apura pointed at the need for protection from HIV infection recommending the usual ABCD formula and giving emphasis on the correct and consistent use of condom.
But health educators said that they include the correct and consistent use of condom during their community education session even among youths whose sexual behavior are at risk of picking up the HIV.
They spelled out the ABCD formula as Abstinence from engaging sex, Be faithful of your partner or having a single partner, Condom, and Do not Inject Drugs and as Education. (Jeanevive D. Abangan, PIA XI)
