The National Youth Commission (NYC), the primary policy-making body on youth affairs in the Philippines, adopted what it called as an “HIV awareness mainstreaming policy” that mandates the “integration of HIV education, prevention strategies, testing awareness, and stigma reduction measures into all applicable NYC-led activities”.
Signed by Leah T. Villalon, executive director and chief operating officer, the policy recognizes NYC’s power to “encourage youth participation in addressing social issues, including health, education, and welfare concerns”. And since – based on reports from the Department of Health (DOH) – there is continuous increase in HIV infections among young Filipinos, particularly those under 25 years old, this “calls for strengthened preventive measures.”
For the government agency, there is a need to “mainstream HIV awareness across all NYC programs, projects and activities to foster knowledge, promote responsible behavior, and improve access to health resources among the Filipino youth.”
NYC actually already had past HIV-related efforts – e.g. for World AIDS Day in 2024, it initiated “Project HAPPY (HIV AIDS Awareness and Prevention Program for the Youth)”, which included what it called as “creative campaigns” like the “A.B.C.D.E. HIV Song”. With this new policy, it hopes to include HIV lessons in its leadership trainings, skills development workshops, school- and community-based outreach, and digital engagements, among others.
