A TOTAL of 5,537 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have either tested positive for HIV or have full-blown AIDS, and they now comprise 11 percent of the 52,280 cases listed in the Department of Health’s National HIV/AIDS Registry as of Feb. 28.
This is very unfortunate, because if we look at the median age of these OFWs – at 32 to 34 years old – they are actually at the top of their lives in terms of potential workforce productivity.
From January to February this year alone, 140 OFWs – 129 males and 11 females – were newly diagnosed as HIV positive. Almost all of the OFWs in the registry acquired the infection via sexual contact.
The problem underscores the need for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to invest more aggressively in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among workers in general and OFWs in particular. Awareness and prevention are our best tools against infection.
OFWs are susceptible to HIV infection because they are exposed to foreign cultures that usually encourage high-risk behavior, including casual sex. Filipino sailors are especially vulnerable at their foreign ports of call after spending lengthy periods at sea. And they have the money to pay for readily available commercial or transactional sex services in foreign ports.
We do not have the figures as to how many OFWs are actually dying as a result of HIV/AIDS or complications thereof. But this is what we know. Of the 52,280 cases in the registry, there have been 2,511 deaths reported so far.
HIV refers to the human Immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.-- Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III of ACTS-OFW