President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of the Philippine HIV and AIDS Act is a huge step forward in responding to the growing HIV epidemic in the Philippines, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.
“Now we can give the right support to Filipinos with HIV-AIDS. We are so thankful to President Duterte for giving priority and acting on the campaign against HIV-AIDS,” Duque said.
He made his statement even as Rep. Ron Salo, one of the new law’s principal authors, said parents and guardians would be among those to be made aware of the dangers that HIV-AIDS bring to their children and teenagers and to themselves.
“Including the parents and guardians as primarily responsible over the health and wellness of their children fills one of the major gaps in the HIV-AIDS awareness and treatment campaigns,” Salo said.
He said Section 13 on parents and guardians was a new provision and was not in the old law.
Meanwhile, the National Youth Commission thanked Duterte for signing into law the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) Act.
NYC Assistant Secretary and Commissioner Victor del Rosario said the commission was “thankful to the President as an increasing number of HIV victims belonged to the youth sector.”
Duque said while the new law had been enacted, the next step was to properly execute the law by developing implementing rules and regulations.
He said a stronger collaboration was key to attaining an HIV-free country.
“The road ahead will be long and our climb will be steep, but we will thrive and win against HIV and AIDS,” Duque said. With Maricel V. Cruz and PNA