Living with HIV in the Philippines: Where to Go?

Please help me I just received the result from confirmatory at positive ang result.hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko please can you recommend a hub that you think is good. im worried also Kung saan ako kukuha ng pang gastos sa mga laboratory na gagawin sa akin. can you give me an idea if how much ang magagastos sa mga laboratory na gagawin sa akin?

Thanks I hope matulungan nyo po ako..

Positive thinker

POZZIEPINOY’S RESPONSE

Hi Positive thinker.

Thank you for your email. I am proud of you for taking the HIV test. It is perhaps one of the best decisions that you ever made in your life. Now you can be in control of your health and your life.

Let me answer your concerns in the order that you asked them.

First, you asked me which HIV and AIDS Treatment Hub you need to go to. You may consider these:

1. Proximity and Accessibility:

a. It is important that the hub is near your home so in case there are frequent visits, it is

easy for you to go there.

b. Some PLHIV would want to get a hub that is far from their place for identity issues.

Of course, you need to weigh the pros and the cons of this.

c. Consider also the transportation requirements during visits to the hubs.

2. Availability of medical equipments:

a. Make sure that your hub has laboratory equipments for your baseline tests, especially

the CD4 machine. Of course in different provinces, there may be limitations to this

but evaluate how the hub makes up for inadequacies.

b. If you are living in a province, you have no choice but to enrol in a hub near you,

irregardless of whether they have the equipments or not. Some hubs, if they don't have

the lab machines, they communicate with the other hubs that have those lacking

equipments.

3. Adequacy of HIV doctors

a. The HIV and AIDS treatment hubs have competent HIV doctors. However, in choosing

a good hub, make sure that there is always an HIV doctor who will attend to your

needs.

4. Availability of ARV's

a. In choosing a hub, make sure to ask if it experienced difficulty in stocks of ARV's.

b. If they have problems with ARV's, ask how they manage to handle it.

I can't tell you which hub is the best as for me, every hub is the same. However, you may hear other counselors, PLHIV or advocates telling you which hub to go to so it is still your choice. Anyhow, you may re-enrol in another hub if you feel your needs are not being met in your first hub.

For your second concern, most hubs provide cheap laboratory tests and some provide free lab tests, which includes the CD4 test. For the baseline tests, you may need to spend around P5,000. Some hubs offer everything for free. You might spend more if there are findings that require an HIV doctor to prescribe more laboratory tests. This may include the tests for specific opportunistic infections that they find from your history and your initial baseline tests. Medications for these opportunistic infections may also be required, thus one has to spend for them. If your CD4 is below 200, you may be required to have a daily regimen of prophylaxes to prevent the opportunistic infections. Some hubs provide these medicines for free. Vaccinations may also be required, so also be prepared for that.

Hubs have a social service department so if you have financial issues, just be proactive in telling your HIV doctor about it.

The key to success in dealing with HIV is to get an early treatment. If I were you, now that you know your HIV status, don't think anymore and go to an HIV and AIDS treatment hub fast.

I hope I was able to answer your concerns. Feel free to email me again if you have other questions.

Stay healthy,

Pozziepinoy

"WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

NO PLHIV is alone with his or her struggle with HIV!"

-Pozziepinoy-

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