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Friday, May 16, 2008
HIV-Aids rising in Cordillera: Health office
BAGUIO CITY -- The number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids) cases in the Cordillera is rising but is "being contained."
Dr. Antonio Bautista, head of the Diseases and Prevention Cluster of the Center for Health Development under the Department of Health (DOH) regional office, said on Thursday.
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He said there are 27 HIV/Aids patients belonging to the 17 to 45-year-old age bracket. Sixteen are males and 11 are females. The patients are two wives, two foreign nationals, two blood donors, two men engaging in sex with fellow men, two sexually active females, and 17 overseas care workers (OCWs).
Bautista also disclosed that one of the 27 patients resides in Baguio and three are from Abra.
"This situation can be attributed to the lack of social hygiene clinics in the Cordillera. Only Baguio has this facility, which provides services like check-ups and Pap smears and counseling for citizens," Bautista said.
He added that these clinics should be available in every municipality.
According to reports, only Baguio City has a social hygiene clinic, an office under the Baguio Health Department (BHD), which renders services to persons with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Among the clinic's services are the regular consultations and weekly Pap smear tests for the city's registered male and female sex workers.
Bautista said having a social hygiene clinic in all of the municipalities in the region remains one of DOH's main concerns.
Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, chief of the DOH Health Operations Division, said HIV/Aids is a "low, slow, and silent epidemic" that needs intensified education and information campaigns from local government units (LGUs), especially in hard-to-reach areas like Mountain Province and Ifugao.
Emil Callao of the Social Hygiene Clinic revealed that there are 795 registered entertainers as of January this year, with 182 newly registered who came from the lowlands.
A study disclosed that an observed influx of sex workers during the summer season occurs, but their number starts to dwindle when the rains arrive.
In April alone, the Social Hygiene Clinic in Baguio has served 1,304 registered sex workers.
Part of the BHD's efforts to control the spread of Aids is the regular monitoring of the city's 52 night establishments: 35 videoke bars, 12 massage parlors, and five gay bars.
City health records, however, said there are other establishments in the city that remain unregistered, which makes monitoring more difficult and the risk for the spread of HIV/Aids even higher. (NC/CXA/Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (May 16, 2008 issue)
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