Steady rise of HIV/AIDS case in Eastern Visayas noted

TACLOBAN CITY, May 16-- The menace of HIV/AIDS continues to haunt Eastern Visayas region with the Department of Health (DOH) expecting more than a hundred new cases this year.

 During the first two months of this year, 21 new cases were detected with two confirmed deaths in Leyte and Eastern Samar provinces.


 “In 2015, we had 89 new cases. The number rose to 104 in 2016. There’s high possibility that more than a hundred new cases will be detected by the end of 2017,” said Roderick Boyd Cerro, chief of the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit.

There are already 411 sexually-infected people reported since 1989 in the six provinces of the region – Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, and Southern Leyte.

“The number consistently went up over the past years as more people submitted themselves to HIV/AIDS test and increasing number of population practicing risky sexual behaviors,” Cerro added. 

The health department has been conducting intensified advocacy campaigns on sex education to address sexual risks such as male-to-male sexual contact and premarital sex.

The local government units have been extending support to this campaign, enforcing ordinances through the local AIDS council. Local officials also set up reproductive health clinics for the key affected populations where condoms are readily available and accessed by everyone. 

Eastern Visayas ranks number eight with the highest tally nationwide, contributing two percent of the total 38, 872 cases in the country as of last year.

(Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)