REP. RON P. SALO
KABAYAN Party-list
Assistant Majority Leader
Member, Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Affairs, and 10 other Committees
HIV SPREADING FAST AMONG OFWs, SOLON NOTES
Aside from the fact that HIV-AIDS is spreading fast among the millennials and men having sex with men (MSM), there is also the worrisome and growing rate of HIV infections involving OFWs.
According to the latest data of the DOH, the number of recorded HIV cases among OFWs has risen from 92 in 2005 to 814 in 2017.
2017 814
2016 671
2015 680
2014 650
2013 508
2012 342
2011 271
2010 174
2009 164
2008 122
2007 106
2006 130
2005 92
Counting from January 1984 to December 2017, 11 percent (5,453 cases) of all the recorded 50,725 HIV cases involved OFWs. The DOH said 70 percent of the 5,453 OFWs with HIV got infected through MSM transmission.
It is therefore of urgent priority that the new comprehensive HIV program of the national government must be rolled out as soon as possible.
The trigger for this is the signing of the new law replacing the old anti-HIV program. It is our hope the new measure will become law in the next few weeks.
As one of the principal authors of the proposed "Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act” (House Bill 6617), I ask all the concerned government agencies to undertake a parallel effort in preparing the implementing rules and regulations of the legislative measure in anticipation for its passage very soon. This will ensure that when the measure is signed into law, it will be immediately implemented.
The House of Representatives approved House Bill 6617 on December 4, 2017. The Senate version of the measure (Senate Bill 1390) is in the period of interpellation currently.
The war against HIV AIDS must be strong, community-based, and protect the most vulnerable sectors: millennial youths and young adults, the MSM, OFWs, and defenseless children.
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