THIS IS IT!
2009 integrated hiv behavioral serologic surveillance (ihbss) national dissemination forum | THE HERITAGE HOTEL, MANILA | DECEMBER 11, 2009
Sec. Francisco Duque III Keynote Address: 2009 IHBSS National Dissemination Forum
Keynote Address of the Honorable Francisco T. Duque III during the Philippine AIDS Dissemination Forum 2009
Fellow government workers, other guests, civic organizations and NGOs, other partners in the HIV/AIDS community …good morning to everyone.
Thank you very much and on behalf of the Department of Health and all the member agencies and nongovernment organizations of the Philippine National AIDS Council, let me welcome everyone to the 2009 National Dissemination Forum for HIV/AIDS in the Philippines. This morning we are presenting new data on HIV/AIDs to know more about our epidemic and its changing trends, so that together, we can mount a stronger and a more focused response that reflects the greater urgency with which we need to confront it.
Nothing in the current trends of new HIV/AIDS infections in the country suggests that we are facing a waning AIDS epidemic. In fact, we may be in for a ride. Although we now see unparalleled momentum in the responses against HIV/AIDS with the way we have consolidated a broader, multisectoral national response over the past decades, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow in the Philippines. We may have the financial, medical, and technical building blocks to curb the epidemic, but overall rates of HIV/AIDS are going up nationally based on the latest report which NEC will announce this morning,
HIV/AIDS is gaining momentum. It is spreading fast in the most at risk populations at a pace that we haven’t seen before and at a rate which can put unsustainable burden on our country for decades to come. It is emerging as one of our primary health and development concerns with the real and imminent danger that the AIDS epidemic can become explosive and spill over larger communities. We have seen that in many of our Asian neighbors, a low-level HIV/AIDS epidemic can become a concentrated epidemic in so short a time. We cannot and should not wait for that to happen. That is the greatest tragedy.
Read more on Sec. Duque's Keynote Address NDF Reactors' Panel Video GalleryFirst book on HIV and AIDS in the Philippines launched
AIDS in the Philippines, the first book that provides important information and a comprehensive account of Philippine experiences on HIV and AIDS, was launched last October 29, 2009 at Annabelle's, Tomas Morato during the Annual Membership Meeting of the AIDS Society of the Philippines at 1:00 in the afternoon.
For the first time in the 25-year history of HIV and AIDS in the Philippines, an extensive documentation on the changing trends and patterns of HIV infection and the country’s response is now in a book written by contributors who studied the beginnings of HIV infection until its increasingly rapid transmission among wider sectors of the population today. From 1984 to August 2009, the registry recorded a cumulative total of 4,082 cases. Unprotected sexual activities remain the most common mode of transmission.
Edited by Dr. Ofelia T. Monzon, who pioneered HIV investigative research studies that paved the way for early efforts to prevent further infection, AIDS in the Philippines contains 18 chapters authored by experts who have been at the core of scientific studies, clinical management, psychosocial responses, prevention, and policy making on HIV and AIDS.
The book will be up for sale in January 2010 at a standard retail price of PHP 2,500.00. Pre-selling price upon reservation for the book is sold at only PHP 2,000.00. Call ASP for your reservations. Read more
Filipino MSM and the epidemic of HIV infection
by Diana G. Mendoza
JR, 28, a single male professional, is currently seeing a girl. He wants to be married to a girl and have children someday. He has had romantic and sexual affairs with eight other females, including around 20 males. He avoids categorizing himself into such labels as gay or MSM (men having sex with men), but says he is into gay pornography, chatting in the Internet chat rooms for men who want to contact other men, and “cruising” in parks, second-run cinemas, and subdivisions. He reads a lot of stuff about men like him, but never forgets to know how to stay healthy and clean. “I have been in all kinds of sexual exploits, and there were only a few times that I failed to use a condom,” he said. At home and in the workplace, he is just one of the guys.
Marco, 20, is into his first job as an office assistant. College was just a year ago, but he remembers that he had his first same-sex relationships during this time, and he considers it educational. “I continue to meet up with boys my age. We act like regular guys on a night out, but I have constant sex with one of the boys,” he told an interview. He also had sex with two girls already. Asked if he uses condoms for protection during sex, he chuckled, “Is that necessary? I’m just starting.” He said he knows how to use condoms, “but it’s just disturbing when you have to put it on in the middle of it.”Read more