BY HANNAH TORREGOZA
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday, March 15 called on the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to step up efforts on raising the youth’s awareness on the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV.
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, made the call following the release of the HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines for January 2023, which revealed that 86 cases were recorded among children and adolescents or those aged 19 and below.
The same study cited that 79 percent of these cases were prevalent among adolescents aged 10 to 19, while seven were less than 10 years old.
“Nakakaalarma at nakakalungkot isipin na kung sino pa ang dapat na binibigyan ng dobleng pag-aaruga dahil sa kanilang murang edad at kahinaan ay sila pa ang nakakaranas ng matinding pagdurusa (It is alarming and sad to think that those who should be given double care because of their young age and weakness are the ones who are experiencing great suffering),” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“Ang nakababahalang balitang ito ay kinakailangan ng mas maigting na pakikipag-ugnayan ng DOH sa iba't ibang ahensya ng gobyerno at mga lokal na pamahalaan para ikalat nang husto ang kaalaman tungkol sa sakit at kung paano maiwasan ito (This alarming news calls for closer collaboration by the DOH with various government agencies and local governments to widely spread knowledge about the disease and how to prevent it),” he said.
The same study also showed that the total number of new HIV cases for the month of January was 1,454. Of the 1,365 reported cases acquired through sexual contact, 998 or 70 percent were males who reported having sex with another male, 193 or 13 percent were males having sex with females, and 240 or 17 percent were males having sex with both males and females.
Gatchalian pointed out the findings of the University of the Philippines Population Institute’s (UPPI) 2021 Young Adult and Fertility Sexuality Survey (YAFSS) also revealed that youth awareness of HIV and acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) dropped to 78% in 2021—the lowest recorded since 1994 when the rate of youth awareness on HIV and AIDS was 95 percent.
In 2013, the percentage of youth who were aware of HIV and AIDS already dropped to 85 percent.
Because of this, the lawmaker said he will pursue a Senate inquiry on HIV infections among youth, as well as adolescent pregnancies.
Last year, Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution No.13 in a bid to review and assess the DepEd’s implementation of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE).
“Nais nating tiyakin na sapat ang kaalaman ng ating mga kabataan pagdating sa HIV, lalo na’t maaaring magdulot ito ng pinsala sa kanilang kalusugan at kapakanan. Susuriin natin kung paano natuturuan ang ating mga kabataan upang pangalagaan ang kanilang mga kalusugan (We want to make sure that our young people have enough knowledge when it comes to HIV, especially because it can cause damage to their health and well-being. We will examine how our youth are educated to take care of their health),” the senator stressed.
