By BETHEENA KAE UNITE
Sexual contact remains the top mode of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) transmission in the Philippines, according to a report from the Department of Health (DoH).
Based on the record of HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines (HARP), 609 HIV cases were acquired through sexual intercourse, 527 of them were male-having-sex-with-male (MSM) incidents.
Homosexual contact had a total of 343 cases, followed by bisexual contact with 184, and heterosexual contact with 82, the report showed.
There were 18 cases that were acquired through needle sharing among injecting drug users (IDU) and two cases from mother-to-child transmission, the report stated.
It further showed that 51 overseas Filipino workers, including 46 males, reportedly acquired HIV in April 2017, all infected through sexual contact.
The report said 629 new HIV cases were recorded in April 2017, bringing to 3,290 the total number of cases during the first four months of the year. Of this number, 376 progressed into AIDS with 172 deaths.
Majority of the reported cases were from the National Capital Region with 234; followed by Calabarzon with 109; Central Visayas with 71; Central Luzon with 56; and Davao Region with 24.
To date, there are already 42,912 HIV cases; 4,041 AIDS cases; and a total of 2,141 deaths since 1984.
