BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio City Health Services Office (CHSO) is seeking an aggressive education and information dissemination drive as it sounded the alarm that cases of the Human Immuno-Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are shooting up.

Newly diagnosed cases reported in the HIV/AIDS and retroviral treatment (ART) registry of the Philippines showed a leap in daily cases: from six new cases diagnosed daily in 2011 and 35 in 2019, now there are 50 a day.

In this city, there were only 21 cases in 2019 and 14 cases in 2020 before a leap to 31 in 2021 and 56 in 2022, the CHSO said. As of the first half of this year, there are already 19 new cases in the city included in the nationwide tally of 6,059.

During the recent AIDS Watch Council (AWAC) event, CHSO Officer-in-charge Celia Flor C. Brillantes highlighted the need to get aggressive in informing the public about HIV/AIDS.

She said an anti STI/HIV AIDS drive would increase knowledge on HIV transmission, prevention and services, provide combination prevention and access to services, and more importantly, prevent new HIV infections.

Ms. Brillantes also pushed for testing in an HIV-infected populace or vulnerable population so that victims can be properly diagnosed and enrolled to the ART — a medical regimen which reduces and keeps the amount of virus under control.

This process lowers and suppresses the viral load of people living with HIV (PLHIVs) and allows them to lead normal healthy lives; all at a ninety-five percent (95%) rate, she explained.

Ms. Brillantes cited latest reports showing that the vulnerable population consists of men having sex with men (MSM), transgender women, female sex workers, people who use/inject drugs, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and, women and children.

Another important factor to consider is zero discrimination for PLHIVs, because the stigma drives them away from seeking medical services, said Ms. Brillantes. It must be emphasized that all tests are treated with confidentiality.

As to HIV cases enrolled in the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center, 60.37% are from Baguio, 11.94% from the other provinces of CAR, and 27.67% from non-CAR area, she added. — Artemio A. Dumlao