MANILA:Officials in Quezon City here have pinned the increase in HIV cases to the rise in unprotected sex.
From January until July , statistics from the city’s Health Department recorded 505 HIV cases, from which only 19 involved females.
According to the Manila Times, Dr Rolando Cruz, the head of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit and sexually transmitted infections, said that 77 new HIV cases were detected in July alone.
He said the lack of awareness, coupled with the stigma and discrimination attached to HIV contributed to the high number of fresh cases.
‘A total 321 of the 505 cases were transmitted through male-to-male sex, 116 through males having sex with both males and females and 61 via male-female sex’
Dr Cruz attributed the high number of new HIV cases to risky sexual behaviour and low use of condoms.
In a bid to address the rise in HIV cases, Mayor Josefina Belmonte launched the ZERO at 2030 campaign, which aimed to prevent the spread of the deadly virus through prevention, control and treatment.
The mayor said that the campaign aimed to have 90 per cent of residents afflicted with HIV to be aware their status by 2022, 90 per cent who were HIV-positive to receive treatment and 90 per cent who were already on treatment to stay treated.
‘This way, we can reach the goal of zero new cases, zero HIV-related deaths and zero discrimination by 2030.’