ENDING HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC: Mayor Lucilo Bayron (extreme right) and Miss Universe-Philippines 2018 Catriona Elisa M. Gray during the signing of the Paris Declaration to end HIV/AIDS in Puerto Princesa City by 2030. (Photo courtesy of Puerto Princesa City Information Office)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- The city government signed Monday a declaration of commitment to end the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic in the here by 2030, and to step up the delivery of services to patients afflicted with the lentivirus.
The Paris Declaration on “Fast-Track Cities: Ending the AIDS Epidemic by 2030” commitment being advocated by the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) was signed among Miss Universe-Philippines 2018 Catriona Elisa Gray, UNAIDS Country Director for the Philippines Dr. Louie Ocampo, Mayor Lucilo Bayron, and other partners.
Bayron said the signing of the declaration means the city government is pledging to put Puerto Princesa City in the mainstream of the world initiative to fast-track the elimination of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The commitment is a strategy by the UNAIDS that targets the reduction of the annual number of new annual HIV infections to 500,000 by 2020 and to less than 200,000 by 2030.
To this end, Bayron said the city government will increase the PHP3 million current budget for the year 2019 for strengthening of the implementation of the City HIV/AIDS Council programs and activities.
“Sa buong MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) ay tayo ang topnotcher [sa HIV cases] kasi tayo rin naman ang pinaka-progresibo. Meron tayong programa at gusto natin magkaroon ng mas masigasig na detection services (In the whole MIMAROPA we are the topnotcher in HIV cases because our development is aggressive. We have a program and we want it to have a stepped-up detection services),” he said during the event.
His statement is based on the report of Regina Villapa, the coordinator for the local health office’s Sexually Transmitted Infections Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (STI HIV AIDS) Prevention and Control Program, which indicates that half or 295 of the total 590 HIV cases in MIMAROPA are from Palawan, with the city contributing the highest.
Villapa said their records show that as of August this year, 198 patients are enrolled in the treatment hub and 139 of them are from Puerto Princesa City.
She did not name the barangays where the HIV patients are currently residing to protect their identities.
UNAIDS’ Ocampo said the strategy aims to increase the support of patients with HIV/AIDS.
“Meron na tayong retroviral therapy na maiinom na gamot at within three to six months ay manumnumbalik na ang pasyente sa kanyang normal at healthy life (We now have retroviral therapy that is patients can take the medicine and within three to six months, their health will become normal and they will have a healthy life),” he said.
He added that HIV patients prefer not to seek available treatment services fearing “workplace discrimination, public humiliation and being stigmatized.”
“Marami ang hindi nag-a-access ng treatment dahil sa stigma at discrimination. Ang ating ginagawa ngayon ay to fastc-track and scale up ang mga serbisyo at mas iIapit sa mga communities (A lot of patients are not accessing the treatment services because of fear of the stigma and discrimination.
“What we’re doing right now is to fast-track and scale up the delivery of treatment services to communities),” Ocampo pointed out.
He expressed optimism that by 2030, “the country’s major cities, including Puerto Princesa City, will eliminate the feared disease.”
“Ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Philippines by 2030 is achievable if major cities like Puerto Princesa [will] act immediately to fast-track case responses,” he added.
Ocampo further said the commitment signing will hopefully establish the services delivery network with the help of different partners.
The initiative is a multi-sectoral approach, where the city government should formulate a Local Investment Plan for HIV/AIDS that will have an allocation for five straight years to ensure the sustainability of programs and services, he said.
Part of the commitment is the city government’s absorption of the community outreach workers hired by the Global Fund to help in speeding up the delivery of treatment services to HIV patients.
Gray underscored the need to support and help the institutions and organizations that work to eliminate the HIV challenge.
“It is an amazing step that we are making today. I can help the city by promoting to remove the barriers because there is medication available that will lead us to healthy and normal lives. We will slowly break down the stigma. (HIV) is just like diabetes and can be treated,” she said.
Gray said every individual should not fear routinely subjecting himself/herself to HIV/AIDS testing, just like checking their blood sugar and blood pressure as early prevention and detection.
Meanwhile, the other partners are Save the Children, Global Fund, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc., Love Yourself, Roots of Health, Ospital ng Palawan, and Project 4H Tandikan. (PNA)
