A total of 5,537 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have tested positive for HIV or have full-blown AIDS, a Philippine lawmaker said on Sunday.
Aniceto Bertiz, a member of the House of the Representatives, also said that as of the end of February this year, the Department of Health (DOH) has recorded a total of 52,280 Filipinos infected with the HIV virus since January 1984.
Bertiz said the number of HIV-infected OFWs comprises 11 percent of the total cases.
“This is very unfortunate, because if we look at the median age of these OFWs — at 32 to 34 years old — they are actually at the top of their lives in terms of potential workforce productivity,” Bertiz said in a statement.
Bertiz said that from January to February this year alone, 140 OFWs — 129 males and 11 females — were diagnosed with HIV.
“Almost all of the OFWs in the registry acquired the infection via sexual contact,” Bertiz said.
Of the 5,537 OFWs in the government’s HIV/AIDS registry, Bertiz said 86 percent, or 4,763, were male.
“We do not have the figures as to how many OFWs are actually dying as a result of HIV/AIDS or complications thereof, because the registry does not track mortality by special population groups,” Bertiz said.
Bertiz urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) “to invest more aggressively in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among workers in general and OFWs in particular.”
“Awareness and prevention are our best tools against infection,” Bertiz said.
Bertiz said OFWs are susceptible to HIV infection because they are exposed to foreign cultures that usually encourage high-risk behavior, including casual sex.
“Filipino sailors are especially vulnerable at their foreign ports of call after spending lengthy periods at sea,” Bertiz said, adding the sailors “have the money to pay for readily available commercial or transactional sex services in foreign ports.”
Of the 52,280 cases in the registry, Bertiz said 2,511 deaths have been reported.
In 2017 alone, he said an average of 41 Filipinos (not necessarily OFWs) died every month due to HIV/AIDS.
HIV refers to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
There is no known cure for HIV/AIDS, which destroys the human body’s natural ability to fight off all kinds of infections.
However, treatments have been known to slow down the course of the syndrome.
Source: GMA NEWS
