Govt expected to spend P1.38B yearly by 2015 for HIV patients

The government is projected to spend more than P1.38 billion annually by 2015 to provide treatment to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive Filipinos, a lawmaker said on Friday.  LPG-MA Rep. Arnel Ty, said the amount was computed on the projection that some 46,000 HIV-positive Filipinos may require treatment by then, multiplied by P30,000 per head. Ty, who is seeking to renew the country’s 15-year-old AIDS Prevention and Control Law, said the cost was based on the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment Package. The House has already passed on second reading the bill mandating forceful new strategies to suppress the HIV epidemic.  House Bill 6751 directs the multi-sectoral Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) to draw up a fresh six-year program with definite targets to reverse the average 62 percent annual increase in new HIV cases in the country since 2010. HIV causes AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a disease that ravages the human body’s immune system still does not have any known cure. However, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) can slow down the ailment.  HIV is being spread in the country primarily through high-risk sexual contact, predominantly male-to-male sex, and secondarily via needle-sharing among illicit drug users, according to the Department of Health.  “We are confident the bill, once finally enacted with the cooperation of the Senate, will take our fight against HIV/AIDS to the next level with highly focused actions,” Ty said.  “The measure will also go a long way in improving the living conditions of HIV-positive people through greater access to treatment, care and support,” he pointed out. A total of 3,115 HIV-positive Filipinos were on ART as of September last year, higher by 50 percent from only 2,087 in January 2012, Ty noted. About 284 new HIV cases were diagnosed in the country in November 2012, up by 34 percent compared to the 212 reported in the same month of 2011. The new cases discovered – 275 males and nine females ­– have a median age of 28 years, with those in the 20 to 29 age-group comprising 52 percent. Except for two injecting drug users, all of the new cases were contaminated due to sexual contact, with males having sex with other males accounting for 82 percent. The new cases included 35 overseas Filipino workers (32 males, three females), who all acquired the virus via sexual contact. The National Epidemiology Center statistics  said the new infections brought to 3,045 the cumulative number of new HIV cases discovered from January to November last year, up 46 percent versus the 2,081 spotted in the same 11-month period in 2011. - VVP, GMA News