“HIV infection and AIDS is growing – but so, too, is public apathy. We have already lost too many friends and colleagues.” –David Geffen

HIV cases are reportedly on the rise again, especially in jails and rehabilitation centers in the Philippines.
Chito, ‘floor manager’ at a night club along JM Basa Street, Iloilo City, once confirmed he was infected with the sexually transmitted disease (STD) after a brief stint in the Pavia district jail.
“I was a victim of sexual abuse by fellow inmates,” confessed Chito, who was nabbed for illegal possession of shabu, together with a female friend, a former capitol employee, in the Molo district.
Chito confirmed gay inmates, like him, “are always on the receiving end when abusive sexual predators strike inside the jail.”
From the STD, the likes of Chito, could be infected with HIV if not immediately given medical attention while behind bars, said the late Dr. Rodolfo Jara-Mesa, an STD specialist.

Full-blown
Chito’s case crossed my mind after it was reported a Quezon City inmate recently died of full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The victim was reportedly one of three inmates infected with the deadly virus. The other one had been released from jail, while the third had been transferred to an undisclosed detention cell.
The identities of other HIV-positive inmates have always been kept confidential and even the “mayores,” or cell leaders, did not know them.
Because of the incident, jail authorities have distributed condoms to Quezon City inmates. With the help of the Department of Health (DOH), other jails are expected to follow suit to curb the spread of the virus among sexually active inmates.
We call on the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to make HIV testing mandatory for inmates in congested detention cells aside from the distribution of condoms.

Prevention
Condoms may offer “an ounce of prevention,” but mandatory HIV-testing would be the most effective means to save the patients before everything is too late for them.
Data obtained by the Philippine Information Agency-Iloilo, from the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) of DOH-Region 6, meanwhile, showed the Western Visayas ranked sixth among all regions in terms of newly-diagnosed cases per region.
Reports quoted DOH-6 Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Nurse Coordinator Christine Mosqueda as saying, “Region 6 registered three percent of the HIV cases in the country.”
Mosqueda pointed to data in the Western Visayas from December 2016, where every 19 hours a person was reportedly diagnosed with HIV.

Cases
The report added, ”[A] majority of these cases are males, with 432, while the remaining 19 are females. A total of 226 cases belong to the age group 25 to 34 years old; 134 cases are under the 15 to 24 years old age range and one case is a child below 15 years old. On the nationwide scale, a total of 9,264 cases were recorded for the period December to January 2016. Of the figure, 1,113 are full blown AIDS cases while 8,151 are asymptomatic.”
Meanwhile, we laud the National Youth Commission (NYC) for holding a free HIV testing for all youngsters at its central office in Quezon City, Philippines on March 20, as confirmed by Commissioner for Visayas Rhea Penaflor./WDJ