House Deputy Majority Leader Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin doesn't think the government needs to declare a public health emergency due to the rise in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases.
Instead, Garin proposed a more straightforward response--make medicines available and accessible.
"We really don't need to declare a public health emergency pero ang kailangan dito ay constant reminder (but what we need here is constant remidner). Declaring national health emergency will not make any difference," said Garin, a former Department of Health (DOH) secretary.
According to her, a public health emergency is declared when there is a need to secure additional funding, rapidly mobilize resources, or strengthen international partnerships—conditions that may not be necessary in the current HIV situation.
Garin pointed out that the increase in reported HIV cases was expected, as more individuals were getting tested compared to previous years.
"Unang una, itong kaso ng HIV, talagang expected na natin na tumaas, not because mababa siya dati kung hindi mataas na siya dati hindi lang natetest. 'Yung availability of testing, 'yung awareness ng tao 'yan ang nagpapataas ng kaso."
(First of all, the rise in HIV cases is something we’ve already expected, not because the numbers were low before, but because they were already high, just not being tested. The availability of testing and people’s awareness are what drive the increase in reported cases.)
According to the DOH, there has been 57 new confirmed HIV cases reported daily from January to March this year—representing a 500 percent increase compared to previous years.
She stressed that the government should focus on raising HIV awareness to help prevent new infections and protect individuals, particularly by removing the stigma around the disease.
"Our constant reminder—no to stigma, no to discrimination at paano mapoproktesyunan ang bawat isa para hindi na dumami ang nagpopositibo dito (and how to protect each one so that the number of positive cases won't increease)," Garin pointed out.