infected needles among people who inject drugs at
1 percent (138) and mother to child transmission at
0.26 percent (35).
contracted through sexual contact. By December
2019, 35 cases of pregnant women living with HIV
have been reported.
Of the 12,778 who tested positive for HIV in 2019,
1,668 or 13 percent acquired the virus through
transactional sex. Apart from those engaging in
transactional sex, the infection rate among OFWs
was also noteworthy at seven percent (931) of new
HIV infections in 2019. Of these OFWs, 93 percent
or 200 are males and almost all of the cases were
With the continuous increase of HIV cases in the
country, the National AIDS and STD Prevention
and Control Program (NASPCP) advanced
its efforts in terms of prevention, testing, and
treatment.
To achieve the 2019 targets for the HIV/AIDS
response in the country, the DOH, through the
National AIDS and STD Prevention and Control
Program (NACPCP), designed high impact
prevention, testing and treatment interventions
for key affected populations to achieve Zero new
infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDSrelated deaths. These interventions focused on
accelerating the reduction of barriers to access and
enhance governance to ensure efficient, effective
and sustainable delivery of quality HIV prevention,
testing and treatment services.
3. Implementing a national condom strategy
through PNAC;
4. Providing support to Community Based
Organization (CBO) managed community
centers;
Among the targeted individuals were Men having
Sex with Men (MSM); Transgender Women
(TGW); People Who Inject Drugs (PWID); Female
Sex Workers (FSW); Young Key Population (YKP);
and Women-at-Risk or those who are pregnant, or
are mothers, female partners of PWIDs, or female
partners of MSM.
Understanding that prevention is pivotal in HIV/
AIDS/STD transmission, DOH took on aggressive
efforts to prevent new infections. These included
the following:
1. Lobbying to the Philippine National AIDS
Council (PNAC) for the implementation of the
HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018;
5. Intensifying the TB-HIV service package; and
6. Lobbying with the LGUs thru PNAC to
increase local budget allocations on HIV and
related expenditures.
To promote HIV testing among the targeted
individuals, DOH scaled up its Viral Load Testing
coverage, expanded the implementation of the
Rapid HIV Diagnostic Algorithm (rHIVda),
integrated HIV screening in the services offered
by the Rural Health Units (RHUs); and expanded
Community-Based HIV screening through
partnerships with CBOs.
In order to encourage People Living with HIV
and AIDS (PLHAs) to undergo treatment,
DOH introduced a safer Anti-Retroviral (ARV)
Regimen; improved access to treatment hubs;
ensured consistent availability of ARV drugs in
the facilities; and engaged the services of case
managers.
2. Intensifying campaigns to promote the use of
condoms, advocate testing and disseminate
relevant information to KAPs;
77 2019 Annual Report Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012
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