Anakalusugan Party-list Representative and Quezon City mayoralty candidate Mike Defensor siad that he intends to improve public access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, testing, and treatment services.
“We will increase the number of HIV treatment hubs in Quezon City. Right now, we only have six facilities providing HIV outpatient and inpatient care services,” Defensor said in a statement Sunday, Feb. 20.
HIV causes AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which destroys the human body’s natural ability to ward off all kinds of infections.
In the same statement, the House of Representatives member cited numbers from the National HIV/AIDS Registry, which showed that the growing number of Filipinos living with HIV now includes 610 women who were found infected while they were pregnant. A total of 236 children under 10 years old were also infected with HIV.
“The 236 children were infected via mother-to-child transmission,” Defensor, vice chairperson of House Committee on Welfare of Children, said.
“In addition to the 236 children under 10 years old, nine other adolescents aged 10 to 19 years old were also infected via mother-to-child transmission,” noted the aspiring mayor.
Of the 610 pregnant women diagnosed HIV-positive, Defensor said 52 percent (310 cases) were aged 15 to 24 years old while 41 percent (248 cases) were 25 to 34 years old.
A mother living with HIV has a 15 percent to 45 percent chance of transmitting the infection to her child during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breastfeeding in the absence of intervention, such as maternal treatment, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Mother-to-child transmission is one of the ways by which HIV may be spread. The other ways are through sexual contact, the sharing of infected needles among illegal drug users, and to a lesser extent, the transfer of contaminated blood products, and needlestick injury.
Defensor previously warned that due to disruptions in health services caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Philippines could see a fresh surge in HIV infections, with the country’s cumulative HIV caseload expected to eclipse the 100,000-mark by mid-year.