Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Thursday called on his fellow local chief executives to help the national government control the spread of the deadly HIV, after the Philippines was tagged as the country with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific.
Estrada said the frightening speed by which HIV infect the local populace should be a major concern of not only the Department of Health but also of every barangay, municipal, city, and provincial government all over the country.
“It is bad enough that thousands of people get infected of HIV every day, but no one should remain complacent. Fighting this epidemic requires the determined effort of everyone, especially us local officials,” Estrada said.
As with the City of Manila, Estrada appealed to his fellow mayors to include in their priority projects and funding a comprehensive program on curbing the tide of HIV cases in their respective jurisdictions.
“The City of Manila is doing its part to contain this epidemic. We should all do our part,” Estrada said.
To help in DoH’s efforts to arrest the increasing number of HIV infections in the country, Estrada has converted the city-run Sta. Ana Hospital as the city’s new HIV treatment hub.
The 500-bed, 10-storey Sta. Ana Hospital, one of six public hospitals in the city that underwent a P500-million renovation under the Estrada administration, is classified as a “Level II” medical facility. It is located in New Panaderos Street in District 6.
The hospital has so far complied with the basic requirements of DoH to qualify as an HIV treatment facility such as a laboratory for treatment and analysis of HIV-infected blood, trained personnel for counselling of patients, and obstetricians and surgeons to operate on patients with HIV, as well as highly trained nurses and other medical staff, and upgrading and procurement of facilities, Estrada said.
Dr. Regina Bagsic, overall coordinator of the city-run hospitals in Manila, said the city government has a “very robust” AIDS education program under the Manila Health Department.
“Manila is doing its part. We have a social hygiene clinic. We have an accredited HIV treatment center. We have programs in line with the national government campaign,” Bagsic said.
The city of MNIL is also offering HIV testing and treatment to bona fide residents—for free. The free HIV tests and treatment are being conducted at the Manila Social Hygiene Clinic in Sta. Cruz, Bagsic added.
MHD, which supervises the operation of the city’s 59 community health centers and 12 lying-in clinics, also received an additional fund of P360 million this year to effectively carry out its health programs.
“It’s really alarming,” Bagsic said of the local HIV epidemic. “We’re happy to say that Manila is not one of those cities that have high number of cases. We have our own problems but thankfully, we have not contributed to the increase of the epidemic.”
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Regional Support Team for Asia Pacific Director Eammon Murphy earlier reported that that the number of new infections in the Philippines has more than doubled in the past six years from an estimated 4,300 in 2010 to an estimated 10,500 in 2016.
The Philippines has become the country with the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific, and is one of eight countries that account for more than 85 percent of new HIV infections in the region, according to UNAIDS.
In 2008, the number of people diagnosed with HIV per day was only one. It became four in 2010; nine in 2012; 17 in 2014; and 26 in 2016. At present, there are 29 persons being diagnosed with HIV every day, according to the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau.
DOH has tallied 44,010 cases of Filipinos with HIV/AIDS from January 1984 to May 2017. This year, the number of HIV/AIDS cases rose by 15 percent to 4,388 from January to May compared to the same period a year ago.
The health agency said 80 percent of the infections are from the 117 “high burden areas” which include the National Capital Region and the surrounding provinces of Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Bulacan.