FINDING ANSWERS
By FORMER SENATOR ATTY. JOEY D. LINA
Atty. Joey D. Lina
Former Senator
It certainly is alarming that the spread of a dreaded disease here is considered to be among the most explosive worldwide. With some 32 Filipinos testing positive daily, the Philippines is currently the only country in Southeast Asia where new cases are rising in number.
Unless the current trend is reversed through highly effective measures, it is estimated that by 2030, the number of Filipinos living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) could reach a staggering 265,900 or more than a quarter of a million people, according to the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC).
The daily average of 32 HIV/AIDS new cases at present is “in stark contrast to the 2 new cases reported daily in 2008, 13 in 2013, and 22 in 2015,” PNAC director Dr. Joselito Feliciano said.
The Department of Health has also disclosed that, amid a generally downward global trend, the Philippines has “one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world with 57,134 cases recorded from January 1984 to July 2018.”
In the midst of all the disturbing revelations that placed the Philippines at the epicenter of the growing HIV/AIDS crisis, came the good news last week that President Duterte has finally signed into law the much-awaited Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018 which aims to effectively deal with the growing epidemic.
Many have hoped the enactment of the new law would be in time for World AIDS Day last Dec. 1, considering the measure had already hurdled bicameral scrutiny and was ratified by Congress before it went into recess last October. But Malacañang’s announcement that the President signed it last Dec. 20 is nevertheless still a most welcome development.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the new law to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS also aims to “deliver proper treatment, care and support services to Filipinos living with HIV in accordance with evidence-based strategies and approaches which are in tune with key principles of human rights, gender equality and meaningful participation of communities.”
The DOH shall establish a program for free and accessible anti-retroviral treatment and medication for people living with HIV, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is tasked to develop a benefit package to include coverage for inpatient and outpatient medical and diagnostic services, including medication and treatment.
Under the new law which encourages people to get tested for HIV/AIDS, minors aged 15 to under 18 are allowed to be tested even without consent from their parents or legal guardian. It also requires schools to teach students the causes, modes of transmission, and prevention of HIV, AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.
The new law amends RA 8504 or the Philippine National AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998 which has been deemed severely inadequate, considering it was crafted two decades ago when HIV/AIDS cases were not yet of alarming proportions.
The preventive measures of the old law, explained HIV and LGBT rights advocate Jonas Bagas, were “too granular in some areas and designed for a generalized epidemic, but not concentrated epidemics.” He added that it had “a messy governance structure, which is muddled further by decentralization and devolution.”
But the new law is “a progressive measure that will upgrade the Philippine response to the epidemic,” he said. “It clarifies the roles and mandates of various government agencies and institutionalizes the country’s national strategic plan to fight HIV, which lays down multiyear strategies and interventions to reverse the epidemic. It has a comprehensive provision on primary prevention, and gives the country the latitude to pursue evidence-based interventions to prevent the spread of HIV.”
The new law is timely indeed amid the reality that “while medical advancements have made HIV detection, treatment and care available, for many Filipinos these are still not accessible.”
The executive director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Christine Stegling, describes the crisis as follows: “HIV is a complex issue. Biomedical responses are vital to disease control, but if people cannot access medicine or preventive services, even the best-designed initiatives will fail. What’s more, the obstacles to treatment often have nothing to do with health care, but rather, are tied to political, economic and social marginalization.”
Stegling adds: “To be sure, in many parts of the world, HIV is now considered a chronic disease manageable with medication and lifestyle changes; that fact alone is worthy of celebration. Nonetheless, millions of people still do not know their HIV status or cannot get the support they need when they test positive. If the world is ever to overcome HIV/AIDS, we must find ways to close these gaps.”
The new law is expected to close such gaps and provide a fighting chance to effectively deal with the crisis in this part of the world, in this country now seen as the “epicenter of one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics.”
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