Bawal ang Pasaway: HIV/AIDS

The other night, I was able to watch this segment from GMA News TV's Bawal ang Pasaway: Positibo-Usapang HIV/AIDS.  Winnie Monsod interviewed Wanggo Gallaga, an HIV-positive writer of the Philippine Star and Philip Castro, the Program Officer of the United Nations Development Program.       

                   

"Mareng Winnie" as she is known to the public asked questions as to why the Philippines is considering HIV/AIDs as problem. Mr. Castro replied that the alarming cases for the past 3 years alone (from 2010-2012) is already double the number of cases from 1984 to 2009. Mareng Winnie also asked why the cases are still going up when most of the other countries such as Thailand, the cases of HIV/AIDS is going down. She asked what their secret is or what we are not doing in our country. Mr. Castro discussed sex with no protection and the irresponsible sharing of needles among drug addicts. He discussed the other ways to prevent HIV transmission such as abstinence, faithfulness of couples to one another and consistent and correct use of condoms. He reiterated that 38 of the most at risk population are not being provided with HIV/AIDS services, and among them, less that 50% has the proper knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

Wanggo said that there is no problem with UNDP or the DOH with their awareness programs, but the people and our culture become the hindrance. Most people really don't want to use condoms. Mr. Castro said that there are reasons cited why people don't want to use condoms. He said, first, people don't like using it because they don't get pleasure from it. Some people said that their partners don't like using them or the condoms are not readily available. There are also instances too that some people just don't know how to use them. Wanggo added that most people are ashamed to buy condoms from the convenient stores because they don't want to be judged or labeled as having premarital sex. He added that there are so many things that the UNDP, the UNAIDS and the DOH are doing but it seems that people are not listening and not changing. Mr. Castro reiterated that we have to discuss the big picture about sex, how it is still considered as taboo to most, and not even to be discussed in public affairs. Mareng Winnie then asked for their proposals on how to deal with it and Wanggo said that in his talks, he is encouraging people to have an open and matured conversation about sex. Mr. Castro agreed and he said that education should be at the grassroots level of society. He mentioned that what they do now is to do capacity building in different communities in local governments wherein the communities themselves can make, implement and institute their own programs and projects on HIV/AIDS.

Mareng Winnie then asked the plan of the UNDP and the DOH on the increasing number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the country. Mr. Castro said that the plan of the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) is to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by the year 2015. Mareng Winnie also asked if they are reaching out to the homosexual groups and Wanggo said that in the social networking world, people are already inquiring about HIV/AIDS from him. Mr. Castro said that DOH has even an online outreach program. Usually DOH visits the social networking sites frequently visited by men having sex with men (MSM) and this is where it reaches its target population. This program started around 2007, he added as part of the Global Fund project. Mareng Winnie said that since the cases are still increasing, then the programs on HIV/AIDS are flops. Mr. Castro said that though it is frustrating even to them, he said that their goal is to reach 80% of the total population to make an impact. He said that the good news is that they are seeing local community responses and they are the ones who are disseminating the information.

Mareng Winnie's last question was how can anybody suspect that an individual has HIV/AIDS. wanggo said that he just suspected when he lost wait brought about by the infections that he had brought about by HIV. She finished it off by saying that anybody will know that he or she is a candidate to have HIV/AIDS only by knowing his or her sexual behavior. Wanggo said that if the person knows that he is at risk, he needs to be get tested.

It is good to watch shows that feature HIV/AIDS. We know that in our country a lot of people are still blind and deaf when it comes to discussions about HIV/AIDS. I just hope that there would be frequent shows like this that will educate our nation about the state of the nation when it comes to our disease. I wish that more people will come out, more voices will be heard so that that 80% of our  population as Mr. Castro mentioned will be reached and be informed about HIV/AID