Philippines Reports Rise in HIV/AIDS Infections

The Philippines health ministry has reported a spike in new HIV infections, with young gay men at highest risk. "From 2007 there has been a shift in the predominant trend of sexual transmission from heterosexual contact to males having sex with males," says a ministry report. The Philippines recorded 1,305 new HIV infections in the first 10 months of 2010, compared with 835 for all of 2009. Almost 80 percent of this year's cases are linked to sex between men; more than half of those infected are ages 20 to 29. Teresita Marie Bagasao, UNAIDS' country coordinator, said the Philippines and Bangladesh are the only Asian countries continuing to see HIV cases rise. Philippine authorities, she said, "need to actually address the factors which lead to infections. Providing treatment can only be sustainable if there is a very strong and comprehensive program of preventing further infections." Bagasao called on the government to educate high-risk individuals and to provide them with condoms. Eleven percent of new HIV cases in the Philippines were blamed on needle-sharing among drug users, and 1 percent resulted from mother-to-baby transmission.

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