In fifteen years, the number of people living with HIV in the Philippines has increased five and a half times. Young homosexuals are particularly affected. Deutsche Welle (DW) sought answers to the question of why this is so and what to do.
The waiting room on the third floor of a busy mall in Manila looks like a cozy lounge. Young men and women sit on a light blue couch next to a table lined with condoms — regular and chocolate flavored. There are also lubricants and pamphlets with tips on how to make one-night stands fun and safe.
Jeremy Jordan Castro, a doctor at this Eastwood clinic, says the idea here is to make people feel good, not to see STDs as a shame or a death sentence.
"We want to normalize testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as part of regular health care. With advances in medicine and technology, HIV can now be lived with like other chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes," he says.
This clinic offers testing as well as HIV prevention drugs before or after high-risk exposure. According to Castro, the team is trained to provide confidential counseling.
The Eastwood Clinic is part of the government's efforts to bring sexual health care to the public, encourage HIV testing and treatment. Because the Philippines has a problem.
According to a UNAIDS report released earlier this month, the country now has 5,5 times more people infected with HIV than in 2010.
However, the Philippines still has a relatively low number of cases. About 190.000 people are known to be living with HIV, out of a total population of 120 million people.
But the Ministry of Health warns that this number could rise to around 450.000 if the negative trend continues.
Young people most affected by HIV
While the number of newly infected people in the world is decreasing, the Philippines is facing fifty new diagnoses - every day.
Almost half of new infections in 2024 were among people aged 15-24. Homosexual men make up 89 percent of these cases.
"We are seeing infection rates reminiscent of New York or San Francisco during the height of the crisis in the 1980s," Benedikt Bernabe, head of the Red Whistle group, which promotes HIV awareness, told DW.
Bernabe noted that since 2005, new infections have mostly shifted to gay men. That group should be concentrated on, he says.
Gibi Gores from the collective Southeast Asia against says that more cases among young people are recorded because the authorities have lowered the age for testing to 15 years, without parental consent.
But, as Gores says, moral panic in this predominantly Catholic country will not help anyone.
"We cannot ignore that young people are sexually active, some with multiple partners. We must provide them with accurate information about sexual health and provide access to testing and treatment," said Gores.
Missed opportunities for early intervention
One out of three people living with HIV in the Philippines only discovers the infection at a late stage. Often, only after you notice other infections, such as tuberculosis or pneumonia.
In 2023, late diagnoses contributed to the deaths of 1.700 people with AIDS, despite global advances in treatment available free of charge in government clinics.
However, government data shows that only 13 percent of people in the affected population know that there are preventive drugs, and only 60 percent know that HIV testing is free.
"The high rate of late diagnoses shows the urgent need for accessible and timely HIV testing," Lui Ocampo, executive director of UNAIDS in the Philippines, told DW.
Currently, it is estimated that almost 40 percent of people living with HIV in the Philippines do not actually know the diagnosis. Among parts of the population, such as trans women and sex workers, only 30 percent of them are properly informed about HIV and treatment options.
Still a long way to go
Elena Felix (66) has been living with HIV for three decades. This grandmother remembers the diagnosis from the nineties, when doctors gave her only ten years to live.
Today, Feliks is an advocate for the rights of people living with HIV and runs an association to support women living with HIV.
She was one of the complainants in the famous case against lawyer Larry Gadon, who claimed that former President Benigno Aquino III died of AIDS. Aquino died of kidney disease in 2021.
Gadon even insulted and threatened people living with HIV who planned to file a complaint, warning them of public humiliation.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court decided to revoke Gadon's law license. Felix hopes this victory sends a strong message – HIV infection should never be used to humiliate.
"It is very harmful and disheartening, especially for young people, when some use misinformation about HIV to humiliate the former president," Felix told DW.
"We need to change this victim-blaming culture that says if you get HIV, it's a death sentence you've hidden."
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