Knowing
about HIV/AIDS is not new to me. 3rd of December 2013, that was the
second time that I have got a chance to join a public forum about HIV/AIDS. My
first was when I was in 4th year high school when my Health teacher
discussed it to us.
The
World AIDS Day is celebrated during December 1 and the University of the
Philippines has come up to a weeklong celebration of it. There are lots of
activities including the public forum about HIV/AIDS.
The
Human Immunodeficiency virus infection/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or
simply know as HIV/AIDS is a disease of the human immune system caused by
infection with Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). (Source: WIKIPEDIA, The free encyclopedia)
It
was said that in June 2013, there were 431 new HIV Ab sero-positive individuals
confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory and reported to the
HIV and AIDS registry. Also, since 1984 to present, there were 14, 025 cases
reported. More than half came from the National Capital Region. Thirteen
percent from the Region 4-A, followed by eight percent from Region 3, 9 % from
Region 7, 6 % from Region 11 and the rest of the country comprises 13 % of all
that cases.
Dr.
Tayag discussed to us facts that are alarming about the HIV. He has presented
statistics that are showing the number of individuals that has HIV. The
statistics he presented also showed that cases have been rising. During the
open forum, Dr. Tayag said that the rising number of people who are positive
with HIV maybe because of the fact that people have limited knowledge about
sex. He also discussed the possible transmission of the virus through mother’s
breast milk, blood, and semen. It cannot be transmitted through saliva and
sitting in public urinals.
I
was a bit shocked when I heard that a number of cases were from the Region 4-A,
because I am residing here in Rizal. And most number of cases was from the
National Capital Region. I have watched a lot of documentary films about
children and teens, who were engaged in pre-marital sex, early prostitution and
others that are related to sex. Maybe, there are a lot of children have that
possibility to acquire HIV or AIDS.
People
are afraid to take some tests to ensure they are free from HIV. Many people
also have no knowledge about this virus. Dr. Tayag said that there are no ways
to eliminate this virus to the immune system but there are ways to prevent it.
The Department of Health has projects to help people with HIV, to give people
enough knowledge about HIV and others.
Being
healthy is important! We should be aware of what we do in our lives.
By Anne Francesca Marielle C. Torres
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