In the midst of social media posts of holiday reunions and year-end parties, the Dec. 16 post of Maurice Jitty Villaester strikes a discordant but essential note: his face-to-face talk about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids) with residents of Barangay Zapatera during the RED (Raise Awareness, Encourage Testing, Develop Solidarity) Campaign organized by the Asian Medical Students Association-Service-Oriented Medical Advocates (Amsa-Soma) and the Loveyourself Inc. Cebu.
Villaester, an alumnus of and now instructor in Communication at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) Cebu, channels his education as a volunteer of the HIV advocacy group Loveyourself Inc.
Through local partnerships and trainings conducted by volunteers like Villaester, Loveyourself seeks to spread at the grassroots the information, education, and communication (IEC) vital for sexual health, trans health, mental health, care and support, and the network of community centers providing frontline services, such as free HIV testing, across the nation.
The mobilization of IEC through public and private partnerships, such as the RED Campaign, offers a lifeline for Filipinos.
Last March 2023, the Department of Health (DOH) divulged that, according to the HIV/Aids Registry of the Philippines, January 2023 recorded 79 youths aged 10-19 years of age and seven children younger than 10 years old who tested positive for HIV.
Seventy-eight of these youths acquired HIV through sexual contact. Data on the mode of transmission was missing for one youth.
In January 2023, the DOH also reported 1,454 new HIV cases or an average of 46 new cases each day.
The January 2023 cases are disquieting. Youth is vulnerable to sexual contact as the mode of transmission, especially with opportunities for unprotected sexual intercourse increasing with the lifting of restrictions on social mobility.
Risky sexual behaviors, such as not using a condom or having sex with multiple strangers, are normalized, even made desirable in popular culture and social media, the latter portal being popular among netizens, who consume content, often with an uninformed and uncritical consciousness.
Thus, the advocacy to counter misinformation needs to be conducted on traditional and digital platforms. Reaching out to youths should not be the sole targets, with parents, teachers, and government frontliners needing not just to be educated about HIV/Aids but also reexamining attitudes that stigmatize persons living with HIV (PLHIV).
Villaester believes that talking about taboo subjects counters the silence that represses individuals from expressing their anxieties and sharing essential information.
“Many people are still unaware about what HIV is, what they can do to prevent it, and what they can do if they contract it,” he said in a message to SunStar Cebu.
By avoiding moralizing and judgment, HIV/Aids awareness advocates provide the information to individuals that are most at risk, which has shifted in the history of the epidemic. The DOH notes the success of efforts to control the spread of HIV among female sex workers.
In 2007, efforts and services were directed at other key risk populations: males who have sex with males (MSM), then persons who inject drugs. In 2016, the DOH noted the increase of HIV cases among the MSM and trans women who have sex with males (TGW).
Having the right information about HIV transmission is a first step towards prevention and management. HIV testing does not only inform a person about his or her HIV status; it opens access to the government’s free antiretroviral medications, which save lives.
Ultimately, what saves lives is a culture that does not discriminate against persons with HIV/Aids.
“As we always say in Loveyourself, it’s not who you are but what you do,” Villaester says. “It’s the stigma that kills people.”