48 Individuals Found Positive with HIV for April 2017 Due to Paid Sex

The Department of Health (DOH)said Wednesday that 48 people acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after engaging in transactional sex or paid sex.

“People who engage in transactional sex are those who report that they pay for sex, regularly accept payment for sex, or do both,” according to DOH April 2017 HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines (HARP) report.

The report also disclosed that a total of 23 people, all being male, got the virus after they paid for sex.

Based on the record also, 17 individuals, including 16 males, acquired HIV after accepting payment for sex as they engaged in paid sex.

On the other hand, eight more males acquired HIV after they engaged in both getting paid for sex and paying for sex.

Meanwhile, a total of six pregnant women, who are now living with HIV, were also reported last April.

A total of three cases were found in the Central Visayas.

One pregnant woman with HIV were found each in the National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Central Luzon.

DOH Spokesperson Dr. Eric Tayag said that pregnant mothers diagnosed positive with HIV were being provided with anti-retroviral therapy to ensure that the baby would be protected from acquiring HIV.

Dr. Tayag explained that if a baby is born with acquired HIV, the baby’s immune system could be weak which, might affect his/ her early years of survival since the vaccines that were provided to babies would not work if they were already positive with HIV.

Meanwhile, the DOH Spokesperson added that there were various reasons and possibilities being looked upon on how the pregnant women could turned positive with HIV.

He said it could be due to unprotected sex, lack of faithfulness of the partner or engaging in multiple relationships, etc.

“Remember also that HIV can be transmitted through addiction to drugs (by injecting drug use) and excessive drinking wherein an individual may lose sense of judgement and control and thus, engaged in an unprotected sex with a possible carrier of HIV which may caused the transmission,” the Tayag added.

He added that those at risk should be aware that there was a need to be tested since there were a lot of HIV testing centers in the country.

Aside from that, he assured that ARTs are available and provided by DOH to individuals positive with HIV.(LSJ/PNA)