Health personnel in General Santos City have recorded 14 confirmed deaths this year due to complications caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
Dr. Mely Lastimoso, coordinator of the City Health Office’s (CHO) social hygiene clinic, said Tuesday the patients mainly died from diseases triggered by late stages or full-blown AIDS.
She said most of them were already suffering from advanced stages when tested for the disease.
Among the latest case involved a 30 year-old beautician who was not able to undergo antiretroviral or (ARV) drug treatment.
“In most cases, it was already too late when the patients were tested positive and sought our help for treatment,” she said in an interview over a local television station.
As of Tuesday, the CHO said the number of confirmed HIV/AIDS cases in the city has already reached 361.
Most of the confirmed HIV/AIDS cases in the city were found among male professionals in the 22 to 25 age bracket and were engaged in “risky sexual behaviors.”
They include gays, bisexuals, men who have sex with men or MSMs, and others who engage in unprotected sex and with multiple partners.
Lastimoso said they have been detecting at least a case of HIV in the city in every two to three days.
The CHO conducts regular HIV screening and submits the samples for confirmation at the Department of Health’s (DOH) Sexually-Transmitted Diseases/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory in Manila.
The DOH provides HIV/AIDS patients with free maintenance or ARV drug treatment, which mainly stops the multiplication of the infected person’s viral load and eventually prevents them from further spreading the disease.
In some countries, the use of antiretroviral drugs has helped effectively lower the incidence of HIV infection to about one percent and eventually stabilized the detected cases.
In line with the observance of the World AIDS Month, the local government launched free testing services in a shopping mall here.
Lastimoso said none among the 80 residents who volunteered to undergo the tests have turned reactive to the disease.
Last year, she said they already found 10 reactive samples at the opening day of the HIV testing activity.
“This is a good indication so far. More people are also becoming aware about HIV/AIDS and submitting themselves for testing,” she said.
The official said they will continue with their HIV/AIDS testing activities, which they expanded to the barangay level earlier this year.
“We will continue with our testing activities and in searching for possible cases among our residents,” she added.(PNA)
