A new campaign called Free To Be U aims to empower people living with and vulnerable to HIV (PLHIVs) to break free from fear, labels, and shame.
The campaign, launched on Feb. 14 by EpiC Philippines, also aims to raise understanding of available HIV programs and services for PLHIV and populations disproportionately affected by HIV.
In the Philippines, an estimated 133,800 adults and children are living with HIV, about 94,000 of them have been diagnosed and only around 56,000 of them are on life-saving antiretroviral therapy.
"In recent years, there have been significant advances in the treatment of HIV. PLHIV can now enjoy long, productive, and healthy lives, with many of the services provided for free," Project Director of EpiC Philippines Teresita Marie Bagasao said.
"Unfortunately, despite being free, the awareness of and access to such interventions and treatment remain low. The Free To Be U campaign seeks to address those barriers and pave the way for an inclusive and supportive environment where PLHIV are free to receive the treatment they need, and free to be themselves," she added.
Bagasao said lockdown and COVID-related restrictions made it difficult for people to access existing services and treatment, she noted that digital platform for service access such as QuickRes has proven to be a vital innovation.
QuickRes.org, an EpiC project, is a free-to-use online platform for service booking and case management that can be used for HIV programs.
"Through this platform, vulnerable populations have easier access to HIV testing services in public and community-led facilities, and in particular, those who will be newly diagnosed can be immediately enrolled to life-saving antiretroviral therapy that allows them to achieve an undetectable viral load," she explained.
One of the goals of Free To Be U campaign, she furthered, is to increase awareness among Filipino PLHIVs of "Undetectable Equals Untransmittable," an evidence-based global campaign that ends the decades-long misconception of HIV being a death sentence.
According to EpiC Philippines, an undetectable status means that the amount of virus in a person's blood is so low that the viral load tests can no longer detect it. It means the virus cannot be transmitted through sex.
Free To Be U campaign has partnered with the Department of Health, as well as community-led organizations, HASH, Love Yourself, Positive Action Foundations Philippines Inc., RTHSN-Lakan, Sustained Health Initiatives of the Philippines, Tropical Disease Foundation Inc., and TLF Share.