These Scary Numbers Will Show You the Reality of HIV in the PH
While the number of new HIV cases has declined in most parts of the world, the Philippines has the unfortunate label of having the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific. The incidence of new infections has increased from 4,300 in 2010 to 10,500 in 2016. That's 6,200 cases in just six years. Even if a majority of diagnosed men were infected disease from male-to-male sexual contact, straight men are still at risk.
Actually, anyone can be at risk for HIV infection.
Health experts are also concerned about what they call “downstream” HIV infections—when the virus spreads to people who are not typically at risk for HIV, like married women who do not engage in high risk behavior and babies who acquire the virus through mother-to-child transmission. Since 2011, 189 pregnant women were diagnosed with HIV, and 118 children were affected through mother-to-child transmission.
It's time we started taking this situation more seriously by using condoms, getting tested, and spreading awareness. Here are the rest of the statistics you need to know.
