A GROUP advocating for the rights of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Aids) wants an ordinance on proxy consent passed, citing the persons affected with the disease are getting younger.
Fritzie Estoque, president of the Misamis Oriental Cagayan de Oro Aids Network (Mocan),, said proxy consent would allow minors with HIV to get themselves tested in order to avail themselves of treatment and medication.
"Under the law, ang allowed ra mag pa voluntary counseling nga sya ra isa (the only ones allowed to get counsel and get tested) are those who are at least 18 years old and above," he said.
"So what will happen to those younger ones? Kay ako (for me) I have met several people below 18 years nga gusto na magpa test (that want to get tested) but the thing is, they cannot tell their parents for parents consent because chances are, palayason sila (they will be forced out of their homes), the parents cannot accept them," he added.
The proxy consent will allow minors to get a trained social worker who shall authorize the testing. Estoque said the social worker will now be the person who will reach out to the parents of the minors with HIV/Aids.
Councilor Maria Lourdes Gaane, chairperson of the committee on health, said the proposal is still pending under her committee as they still wait for the guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH).
She said the guidelines is necessary to ensure that there will be no legal impediments and the rights of the minor shall always be protected.
But Estoque said the guidelines are already available or can be crafted locally.
"Naa man na pirmi ang guidelines (the guidelines is always there) last year pa ni namo gitackle (we tackled this since last year), pero tingala mi kay hangtod karon wala pa (but until now it is still not passed)," she said, adding that the matter was issued as early as November and December 2017.
"We want unta nga madali kay naay waiting (We want this to be enacted immediately because we have clients who are waiting to get tested), although on our part, amo nalang gipaningkamotan nga ma reach namo ang ginikanan (we are trying our best now to reach out to their parents," Estoque added.
According to DOH-Northern Mindanao, there are 48 new cases of HIV/Aids that were recorded in Northern Mindanao from January to February this year, a figure higher by about 14 percent compared to the figure recorded in the same period last year.
On a national scale, the DOH records about 31 cases of HIV cases per day, adding that the male-to-male transmission is still the number one risk of getting the disease.