Health expert warns surge in HIV cases among Filipinos
By Anna Valmero
18-Aug-2010
Shortage of ARV drugs and health personnel in 5 years feared
(Quezon City - Metro Manila) There will be 20,000 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in the country over the next five years, according to a doctor at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
In a phone interview, Dr. Edsel Salvana said that the doubling rate of HIV cases in the country was reduced to only a year. For the first six months this year, there were already 809 cases, nearly equal to the 835 total cases recorded for the whole of 2009.
Since the first case in 1984, there have been more than 5,200 HIV-positive cases among Filipinos, of which 16 percent have progressed to AIDS, according to the Department of Health (DoH).
Salvana pointed out that there is an alarming increase in the doubling rate of HIV cases in the country.