GUESTS DURING the latest edition of Kapihan sa Davnor bared the latest local figures of HIV cases which according to them were mostly among men having sex with men (MSM).
Held at PTV DavNor 48 Studio, the Kapihan sa DavNor bannered the topic: “The Threat of Spreading HIV” which ran in line with the World AIDS Day celebration on Dec 01 that rolled out the theme, “Communities make the difference”.
During the Kapihan, Tagum City Health Officer, Dr. Arnel Florendo revealed that HIV cases in Tagum stood at 216 as of June 2019 or a hike of 56 cases from 160 as of June 2018, that he said, “is an accumulated figure from 1984 to 2018.”
In a separate interview, Dr. Florendo cited the June 2019 figure as a considerable increase in number of HIV cases which he viewed as “underreported”, saying there could be those who were diagnosed of HIV somewhere and those who have yet to be tested.
Dr. Florendo said CHO Tagum is making readily available free HIV testing and even the HIV medication that can boost the immune system to prevent HIV infection from progressing into acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
He cited the relevance of Tagum City Ordinance No. 347, series of 2019 which is an ordinance “Promulgating Policies and Measures for the Prevention and Control of STI/HIV/AIDS in Tagum City, creating the Tagum City AIDS Council and Providing Penalties for Violations thereof and for other Purposes.
Through the Ordinance, CHO is highly encouraging pregnant women to submit themselves to free HIV Testing as a pre-emptive measure of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection, he said.
On the other hand, Davao del Norte Provincial Health Office HIV AIDS coordinator Leilani Kristy Cobrado said her team had gone province-wide drumming up HIV AIDS awareness a.
The intense information and education drive is pushed as Cobrado said that all local government units (LGUs) in the province already had registered cases of HIV infection.
“Naa na ang HIV sa rural areas (HIV is already in the rural areas),” she said during the Kapihan.
Also pushing pregnant mothers to avail of free HIV testing, PHO Davao del Norte brings such service to geographically isolated and depressed area (GIDA) barangays during Oplan TABANG which means Tapok sa Barangay Alang sa mga Nanginahanglan ug Galisod.
Providing technical explanation on HIV AIDS, Dr. Eleonor Salva of PHO recommended to observe the ABCDE of sparing oneself from HIV infection. A means abstince; B mean Be Faithful; C means proper use of Condoms; D means Don’t use Ilegal Drugs; and E mean Education.(By Jeanevive Abangan)