There was plenty of news last year regarding the alarming rise of newly confirmed cases of HIV infection among MSM or men who have sex with men (whether these men are straight, bisexual, or gay). Most people familiar with the situation seem to think that this is due to increased testing among affected populations and not necessarily because there where many people who were actually infected last year. Take note that it takes around 3-6 months after a person gets infected before the level of HIV antibodies become detectable and that it may take an average of 10 years before symptoms show. So this recent rise in detected cases does not necessarily correspond to a dramatic recent increase in infections as well. But still, the official tally of documented HIV cases (which is currently around 4,400) is most certainly underrepresented.

In the latest chapter to this ongoing saga, the past week or two has seen a blitz of news articles and news segments on TV about the supposed link between the Internet and this alarming rise in newly-documented HIV cases. For instance, this article on INQUIRER.net has Dr. Eric Tayag of the DOH National Epidemiology Center saying that there is a link between Internet usage and HIV/AIDS.

This recent media blitz, while serving to highlight the need to address the problem, also leads to a lot of scaremongering and possibly unintended discrimination. These news reports have so incensed PinoyPoz, that he wrote a barrage of blog posts decrying the misleading reporting. (Go check out those posts, they’re quite educational.)

Read the full article (blog) on discreetmanilablog.blogspot.com.

See also News Story: More HIV/AIDS cases linked to Internet boom.