The numbers just keep rising.
Forty-one Filipinos now get infected with HIV every day, based on the July 2022 report of the Department of Health (DOH) that cited a total of 1,346 new HIV cases for the month.
The new number – i.e. 41 – is already higher than the numbers reported the previous months ago; from January to May 2022, the number was lower, with 39 new HIV infections per day. In total, the cu try now has 103,112 HIV cases, though this may not be exact due to non-testing for HIV of many Filipinos.
The DOH reports also noted that:
- the regions with the most number of newly reported HIV cases remained the same – i.e. National Capital Region, CaLaBaRZon, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas. These regions comprised 74% of the total number of HIV cases for July.
- sex remained the main mode of HIV transmission (MOT), with 97% of the new cases transmitted through sexual contact.
- other MOTs include: sharing of infected needles (7%), and vertical transmission (<1%).
- eight pregnant women tested positive for HIV; the age ranged from 17 to 41 years old. Since e 2011, when data on pregnant women were started to be collected, 681 diagnosed women were reported pregnant at the time of diagnosis.
- 62 (5%) of the new cases were Filipinos who worked overseas in the last five years; 89% of them were male.
- 111 (8%) of the new cases engaged in transactional sex in the past 12 months; 95% of them were male; the age ranged from 15 to 56 for males and 19 to 26 for females.
- 415 (31%) of the reported cases for July were 24 years old or under; 94% of them were male; and 404 (97%) of them were infected through sex.
- 77 newly reported cases were below 19 years old; 71 were adolescents aged 10 to 19; and six were children under 10 years old.
At least 1,176 people with HIV were enrolled for HIV treatment. To date, though, still only 63,696 people living with HIV access antiretroviral medicines (ARVs), only over half of the 103,112 Filipinos documented to live with HIV.
Still, 70 PLHIVs were reported to have died due to any cause related to HIV; 67 (96%) of them were males; 1 was less than 15 years old, 9 were in the 15-24 age group, 28 were 25 to 34 years old, 23 were 35 to 49 years old, and nine were 50 years old and above. Among those who died, 31 (44%) were from Central Visayas.
