Para sa bawat Pinoy na may HIV, may nakalaang ₱39,500 para sa kanilang treatment. Under the Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment (OHAT) Package of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), most of the expenses of paying HIV-positive members are supposed to be covered by the aforementioned amount.
Kasali na rito ang various “covered items”, including “drugs and medications, laboratory examinations based on the specific treatment guideline including Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) level determination test, viral load (if warranted), and test for monitoring anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs toxicity and professional fees of providers.”
Ang totoo, the hard truth, there are many Filipinos with HIV who have yet to experience VL test, or the test that determines a PLHIV’s viral load (o ang dami ng HIV sa kanyang katawan). This is particularly true for those living outside of metropolitan areas, with their treatment hubs not rendering this service.
As FYI: Knowing one’s VL is important to ascertain if the antiretroviral (ARV) medicines taken by PLHIVs are working; and by knowing one’s VL, HIV-positive people know if they can still (sexually) transmit HIV (since those with undetectable VL cannot transmit HIV through sex anymore).
Worse: Even if this is supposed to be much cheaper than VL test, there are Filipinos with HIV who also do not get CD4 test, or the test that checks the state of one’s immune system (meaning, the higher the CD4, the less prone to opportunistic infections). This is true to PLHIVs wherever they may be in the Philippines.
Ang nakakagalit dito ay madalas kinokolekta pa rin ng mga treatment hubs/facilities ang kabuuang amount na allocated for PLHIVs supposedly under their care from PhilHealth. This is even if they do not render these much-needed services.
Maaaring maraming dahilan bakit di nabibigay ang serbisyo – e.g. walang capability to offer them in the first place. But those without the capability to offer these services should have linked with facilities that can offer them… and without the need for PLHIVs to pay extra (kasi nga bayad na ito ng PhilHealth).
In truth: Isang kakulangan ng Department of Health ang non-focus on de-accreditation of treatment hubs/facilities that are not capable to offer HIV-related services. Kaya ang nangyayari, maraming nagtitiis sa mga ganitong hubs/facilities na nangongolekta pero di nakakapagbigay ng tamang serbisyo.
And so let this be a lesson, a warning even, to all Filipinos living with HIV: Kung hanggang ngayon ay di ka pa rin naka-VL test, or kahit CD4 test man lang, and yet yung treatment hub/facility mo, kinukuha ang kabuuang amount na para sa iyo sa PhilHealth, mag-isip-isip ka nang lumipat. Seriously start asking around about other hubs/facilities that can serve you better. Because the money supposed to be for your health is benefiting some people who are not even rendering the apt services to ensure that you stay healthy (and alive).
Call out na natin ang mga pa-simpleng kupit sa HIV “advocacy”. With HIV, lives are always at stake. So bawat kupit is at the expense of those in need of that amount for life-altering (even lifesaving) services. Kaya tama lang na mambulabog tayo.
The founder of Outrage Magazine, Michael David dela Cruz Tan completed BA Communication Studies from University of Newcastle in NSW, Australia; and Master of Development Communication from the University of the Philippines-Open University. He grew up in Mindanao (particularly Kidapawan and Cotabato City), but he "really came out in Sydney" so that "I sort of know what it's like to be gay in a developing, and a developed world". Conversant in Filipino Sign Language, Mick can: photograph, do artworks with mixed media, write (DUH!), shoot flicks, community organize, facilitate, lecture, and research (with pioneering studies under his belt). He authored "Being LGBT in Asia: Philippines Country Report", and "Red Lives" that creatively retells stories from the local HIV community. Among others, Mick received the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 2006 for Best Investigative Journalism, and Art that Matters - Literature from Amnesty Int'l Philippines in 2020. Cross his path is the dare (guarantee: It won't be boring).
