MORE and more people in Davao City opt to undergo human immunodefiency virus (HIV) screening to know their status due to the increasing awareness and information disseminated about the disease.
Patrick Albit, Global Fund Project assistant regional coordinator, said in an interview with SunStar Davao that there are 6,070 males and transgender aged 24 to 35 years old and 15 to 24 years old availed of the free HIV screening as of their latest data in 2018, compared to 5,000 who availed of the same screening in 2017.
Albit added that there are 191 individuals who were found reactive in their tests. This means these individuals needed to be tested again for confirmation.
Meanwhile, he added that in the latest record of the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center (RHWC)-Davao in 2018 there were 3,002 individuals of mixed genders availed of the free HIV screening. In 2017, there were only around 2,800 who availed of the same screening.
RHWC head Jordana Ramiterre said in an interview that some of the individuals in the data were not from Davao City.
“It’s still prevention is better than cure,” she said.
She added that HIV infection has treatment but those that were infected will make adjustments since the anti-retroviral drugs must be taken daily.
Ramiterre added that infection could be prevented through abstinence, consistent and correct condom use, safety use of syringes, education and early detection and being faithful to the partner.