MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 6, 2012) – The number of overseas Filipino workers who are infected with human immunodeficiency virus has reached 2,000 and accounts for 20% of the total cases in the Philippines, according to Dr. Eduardo Banzon, president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.
He urged members and dependents, including registered OFWs, to have themselves tested if they suspect they may have acquired the highly infectious disease.
“We are reassuring HIV-positive members and dependents, including those working overseas, that we will help them through our Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment Package, which provides a substantial allowance for annual reimbursements under our case benefit payment scheme,” Banzon said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said registered OFWs, even while they are abroad, may file their claims via authorized representatives here, and Philhealth may still reimburse them as long as they submit the required supporting papers.
Banzon said in August alone, at least 25 new HIV cases have been recorded and that OFWs now comprise some 20% of the 10,514 cases in the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry.
“We will respect every member’s absolute right to privacy and protect the confidentiality of their claims for treatment expenses incurred. In fact, all their claims are put in specially marked sealed envelopes,” Banzon said.
He said members living with HIV here at home may seek therapy in any of the 16 hospitals identified by the Department of Health as special treatment hubs – in Luzon, the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Cagayan Valley Medical Center, Jose B. Lingad Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Philippine General Hospital, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Makati Medical Center, The Medical City, and the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital.
And in the Visayas, the Western Visayas Medical Center, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, and the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital. And in Mindanao, the Zamboanga City Medical Center and the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
HIV causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. While the disease does not have any known cure, the World Health Organization (WHO) says “huge reductions have been seen in rates of death and suffering when use is made of a potent antiretroviral regimen, particularly in early stages.”
“Expanded access to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) can also reduce the HIV transmission at population level, impact orphan hood and preserve families,” the WHO added.
The standard ART consists of the combination of at least three anti-retroviral drugs to maximally suppress the HIV and stop the progression of the disease.
“Philhealth’s protection for HIV-positive members is our way of giving more meaning to the right to health of every Filipino and complying with the mandate of the AIDS Prevention and Control Law,” Banzon said.
According to the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, some 97% of HIV-positive OFWs, or 1,948 cases, acquired the virus as a result of sexual contact. The rest were infected due to the transfusion of contaminated blood products, needle prick injury, drug use with tainted needles, or had no data available as to mode of transmission.
20