Technology has been advancing, yet we are now living in a world with unknown kinds of diseases and up until now some have no cure.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV, is an example of a disease that has no cure and cases have been increasing like runaway train from 2008 to 2016 per the DOH.
We have been mistaken in differentiating HIV with AIDS. HIV is the virus that may cause the infection while AIDS is the condition or the syndrome. HIV causes serious damage to a person’s immune system so it becomes AIDS.
The Department of Health estimated 1,000 reported HIV cases per month since 2016. As of 2017, the Department of Health ranked the Philippines as one of the countries with the fastest growing AIDS epidemic in the world with a prevalence rate of five percent nationwide. We can say that with the current population of our country of 110 million, there are 5.5 million individuals currently living with the HIV.
It is completely different from the other viruses because once a person has been positively infected it stays for a lifetime.
It has no effective cure so from the time you discover you are infected you should already consult a specialist immediately. Antiretroviral Therapy or ART is the medicine that was used with patients in order to help them prolong their lives. With healthier living, it can control the virus and it reduces the chances of transmitting it to others.
There is really a call for us to grab the opportunity to check our status about HIV because knowing your status will prevent the virus from getting passed on to others and probably decrease the number of AIDS cases.
As they say to get tested is important and an assurance for you to know your status because it will help you as an individual to make healthy decisions and prevent being afflicted or transmitting HIV.
There had been unreported cases of HIV positive individuals because they got infected unknowingly. With the growing epidemic rate of 200 percent, each day means that we should be aware and take it seriously because it needs to be controlled. If we don’t take action now there may be increased cases of 300 to 500 cases per day within the next 10 years.
Always keep in mind that “prevention is better than cure especially when something has no cure.” So as an individual we should always be updated on the things happening around and participate or join in promoting active advocacies because we will also be able to help ourselves.
There is a reflective statement from Lisa Lampanelli to the effect that people with HIV and AIDS are nothing to be afraid of. They are people just like every single one of us, and each has a story to tell. These people should be helped, embraced, and not dismissed. We need to open our hearts and our minds to them, and we just may learn we’re pretty much all the same.**Ralph Kipol Sad-en, UB Intern
