Iloilo City Councilor Liezel Joy Zulueta-Salazar recently proposed the creation of barangay budgets geared towards the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), along with other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“Right now, the Iloilo City government has an intensive drive against HIV, that is why we proposed barangays be required to allocate a budget,” the city official explained.

Last November, after a Department of Health-Region VI (DOH-6) report named Iloilo City as the local government unit with the highest number of HIV cases in the region, the Iloilo Social Hygiene Clinic, located within the City Proper District Health Center in Iloilo City, announced they would be providing free HIV testing.

“It is important to address the problem,” Zulueta-Salazar said.

Earlier this year, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia signed an executive order creating a local council focused on preventing the spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS after data suggested sexually transmitted diseases were on the rise in the city.

Based on data from the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital HIV and AIDS Core Team, between 2007 and October 2017, Bacolod City recorded a total of 304 HIV/AIDS cases, making it the second highest in the Western Visayas./WDJ