Younger people continue to be the most affected by HIV in the Philippines, with the median age of those newly infected in April 2019 27 years old (age range: 2-73 years old). More than half of the new HIV cases (52%, 434) were 25-34 years old, and 29% (240) were 15-24 years old at the time of testing.
In April, there were 38 newly diagnosed adolescents 10-19 years old at the time of diagnosis. Further, two cases were 17 years old and 36 cases were 18-19 years old. Almost all (95%) were infected through sexual contact (six male-female sex, 19 male-male sex, and 11 had sex with both males and females), one was infected through sharing of needles and one had no data on mode of transmission.
There were three diagnosed cases less than 10 years old and all were infected through vertical transmission (formerly, mother-to-child transmission).
This is according to the latest report from the HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines (HARP), which cited that 840 Filipinos were newly infected for the fourth month of the year. Ninety-four percent (789) of the newly diagnosed were male.
Almost a third (32%, 271) were from the National Capital Region (NCR). Region 4A (16%, 137), Region 3 (11%, 92), Region 7 (8%, 65), and Region 6 (7%, 55) comprised the top five regions with the most number of newly diagnosed cases for the month, together accounting for 74% of the total.
Sexual contact remained as the predominant mode of transmission (98%, 819). Among the newly diagnosed, 57% (475) reported transmission through male to male sex, 24% (203) through sex with both males and females, and 17% (141) were through male to female sex.
Still in April 2019, 14% (114) of the newly diagnosed engaged in transactional sex. Ninety-eight percent (112) were male and aged from 17 to 62 years old (median: 28 years). Forty-six percent (52) of the males reported paying for sex only, 38% (42) reported accepting payment for sex only and 16% (18) engaged in both. Also, among the two female cases who engaged in transactional sex, one was reported to have accepted payment for sex and one had engaged in both.
People who engage in transactional sex are those who reported that they either pay for sex, regularly accept payment for sex, or do both. Reporting of transactional sex was included in the HARP starting December 2012.
Other modes of transmission were sharing of infected needles (1%, 5) and vertical transmission, with <1%, 3). There were 13 cases that had no data on mode of transmission.
Among the newly diagnosed females in April, four were pregnant at the time of diagnosis. Two cases were from Region 4A and one case each from Regions 1 & 10.
Reporting of pregnancy status at the time of testing was included in the HARP from the year 2011.
In April 2019, there were 752 patients who were initiated on ART. The median CD4 of these patients upon enrollment was 204 cells/mm3. As of end-April 2019, a total of 37,091 PLHIVs were already on ART.
There were 189 reported deaths due to any cause among PLHIVs. Ninety-five percent (179) were males. Thirty-one (16%) cases were 15-24 years old at the time of death, 97 (51%) were 25-34 years old, 52 (28%) were 35-49 years and nine (5%) were 50 years and older. Ninety-five percent of the cases were reported to have acquired the infection through sexual contact: 31 through male-female sex, 92 through male-male sex, and 57 through males who have sex with both males and females. Four (2%) were infected through sharing of needles and one (1%) was through mother-to-child transmission. There were four (2%) reported deaths that had no data on mode of transmission.
