ACCEPTING that one has human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immunodeficiency virus (HIV-Aids) is difficult, thus many would rather sink into denial than seek out treatment. This is why treatment hubs like Davao City's Reproductive Health and Wellness Center (RHWC) offer psychosocial support as well to ensure that those who need treatment get it as soon as possible.
This psychosocial support involves learning group sessions wherein selected persons share their struggles and triumphs to their fellow HIV patients.
Dave, a counsel from the RHWC, said that this is a monthly activity where they also ask patients about their concerns in taking medicines.
“We have learning group sessions monthly, where the patients ask each other’s opinion. It is where their issues about their treatment are raised and apart from that participants can get lessons from another who is also undergoing treatment that they can also apply to their own selves,” Dave said.
Aside from the treatment aspect, these learning group sessions also provide life hacks to those participants in how they divulge their situations to their families.
The RHWC is currently providing Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) to more than 200 patients, but Dave said some prefer not to join the sessions as attendance to this is a personal choice.
RHWC Center head, Dr. Jordana Ramiterre said that some would prefer to deal with their treatment alone and that they respect every person's choice.
“We want engagement and personal coping but we cannot be so insistent because it their own personal choice,” she said.
Undergoing anti-retroviral treatment means that one takes a 3-in-1 single dose tablet per day. There will be side effects at the start, but this would wane over time, Ramiterre said.
The World Health Organization defines ART as a treatment of people infected with HIV using anti-HIV drugs. The standard treatment consists of a combination of at least three drugs (often called highly active antiretroviral therapy) that suppress HIV replication. Three drugs are used in order to reduce the likelihood of the virus developing resistance. ART has the potential both to reduce mortality and morbidity rates among HIV-infected people, and to improve their quality of life.
Ramiterre said that at the RHWC, they check the response of treatment per patient through repeat of laboratory test after six months of treatment. In this way, they can check the CD4 count, a test to determine how the virus affected the patient's immune system, of the patient.
Ramiterre said that a high percentage of those who availed the test do not really immediately avail or access treatment.
“Around 90 percent ang nagpapa-test, pero hindi aabot sa 90 percent ang nagpapa-treat (Around 90 percent come for testing, but those who get treated don’t reach 90 percent). People decide to come later,” she said.
She said that while their advocacy for early testing is proving a success, encouraging those who test positive to undergo treatment is a challenge.
Ramiterre said some patients usually come back only after two to three months after getting their results.
Dave said that part of their task as counselor is to monitor and maintain the patient’s consistency in getting the anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs; they also reach out to those who test positive.
He said that they usually contact the patients to continuously access treatment and they do that also through the help of peer educators who have undergone training to conduct community-based testing.
At the RHWC only the information staff, the clerk and utility person, are not counselors.
Ramittere said they encourage patients to continue treatment through briefing them that intake of ARVs can enable them to maintain physical health and allow them to do things that they can do.
“It doesn’t mean that you are diagnosed, that you will be limited in the things you can do,” Ramittere said.
She underscored that everybody deserves to be fully productive, in school and in their work. This is true even to those diagnosed with HIV.
She said that the purpose of the medicine is to strengthen the immune system and extend the life of the patient. This will require a lifestyle change as well.
Dave mentioned that those who are taking ARV can still take liquor but only in moderation.
“We ask ano yung nae-experience niya (We ask what he’s experiencing), when to come back kung may nararamdaman (if he feels something),” she said, adding that they usually allot two weeks observation for side effects of the drug.
RHWC is not the sole treatment hub in the metro.
Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Bajada and Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City are also provided ARVs by the Department of Health (DOH).
She said that for care and support, some Non- Government Organizations such as Mindanao Aids Advocates Association Inc., Alliance Against Aids in Mindanao Inc., and faith based organizations also provide support services.
As to the possible expansion and addition of more treatment hubs, Ramittere said that this will depend on the number of clients.
She added that currently Davao Doctor’s Hospital is also applying to be treatment hub for HIV and Aids.
“Opening new treatment hubs means increasing number of places to access treatment,” she said.
She also added that it is also an advantage since patients may decide as to where they can avail their treatment according to the level of their personal comfort.
She mentioned that some patients who are availing medicines in the treatment center are not from Davao City. It usually includes those from areas within Davao Region since the center also utilizes regional logistics.
Currently, RHWC’s youngest patient who is availing treatment is 18 years old.
Patients younger than 18 years old are usually referred to hospitals to access treatment. Some of them acquired HIV-Aids through mother-child transmission.
Those younger than 18 also need pediatric syrup instead of ART, and these are availed by those who are in SPMC.
Ramiterre said that bulk of those who avail treatments are in SPMC.
DOH-Davao Region on April 2017 reported that some 2,000 people living with HIV are getting free ART from the government.
In the same report, program manager Maria Teresa Requillo said in an interview said that these patients have been undergoing ART in three treatment hubs in Davao City since 2015.
She said that these numbers include both adult and pediatric patients.
In January 2017 alone, a total of 526 people with HIV started taking the treatment.
Requillo stated that of this data, 50 belong to Davao City, and these include one patient who has been taking the treatment for 20 years now.
Requillo added that those who underwent ART but have stopped treatment for various reasons were excluded from the list of beneficiaries.
Since January 1984 to January 2017, a total of 40,466 HIV cases have been reported in the country, with 2,002 deaths and 3,755 cases progressing into Aids.
She added that the disease is prevalent among the heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual men but they also have mother-to-child transmission, which means the disease can be passed by pregnant mothers to their child.
Requillo mentioned in the same report that about three mother-to-child transmissions have been recorded since January 2017.
In Davao City, 118 asymptomatic cases and 16 full blown Aids from January to April this year have been recorded.
Males rank the highest with 125 cases from January to April, while women recorded nine cases in the same period.
The age group of 25 to 34 years has the most recorded number of cases with 61 cases followed by the 15 to 24 year old with 54 cases; and 35 to 49 age bracket ranked lowest with 19 cases.
Homosexuals ranked highest in modes of transmission, with 78 cases, followed by bisexuals with 38 cases, and heterosexual with 18 cases.
Seven cases of Overseas Filipino Workers were also listed in the same period.
Three deaths were also recorded in the city for the same period of January to June 2017, and this adds to the record of 101 deaths HIV/Aids related deaths recorded in the city from the year 1984.
Davao City Health Officer doctor Josephine Villafuerte said that there is an increasing number of HIV-Aids cases in the city with an average of 30 cases per month or one case per day.
Villafuerte said that having treatment hubs in the city is really a great help to those who are fighting HIV-Aids.