Linkages

I got to realize one of my goals that I set after I learned that I was HIV-positive early this year. That is, to be part of a poz organization that would cater to and assist HIV-positive individuals.

After initial discussions with the famous dyingyoung, who heads Youth Aids Filipinas Alliance (Yafa), I am now one of their consultants/advisers. I will advise them on media relations, care and support.

Yafa caters primarily to HIV-positive youths aged 29 and below. To know more about Yafa, you can visit their website at http://www.youthaidsfilipinas.org or look up their Facebook site by typing yafa in the search bar of that social networking website.

My first interaction with the group's leader and some officers was last October 31 when they had their Halloween party in their office at 2040 Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila. It was a small party but it was fun!

Dyingyoung and I had discussed the terms of reference to cover my consultancy job with the group and to formalize my affiliation with Yafa.

Aside from Yafa, I have also been in touch since last August with the current head of Pinoy Plus Association, the pioneer organization of people living with HIV (PLWHIVs) in the country, and have visited their office in Sta. Cruz, Manila also. I have been briefed about their office's goals and projects and soon, I will be participating in the association's activities.

Pinoy Plus has been in existence for 15 years and the group will be marking its 16th anniversary this month. It is composed of PLHIVs and renders services and support to fellow PLHIVs, aside from engaging in HIV and Aids awareness projects.

I am very happy that I have established linkages with these groups and grateful for their welcome. This shows that when one is HIV-positive, he or she can still be a productive member of the poz community and of society as a whole.

Alarming

I had a recent conversation with the top honcho of Pinoy Plus, a non-government organization (NGO) that caters to and supports people living with HIV (PLHIV) or pozzies, if you may.

He revealed that this year, the country registered the highest increase of HIV cases on a per day basis. I repeat, per day not per month. And whereas migrant workers was the sector where most HIV cases were recorded in the past, it has now shifted to the MSM or men who have sex with men group. Not only that, transmission has become more localized.

He also said that in previous years, the country would only have one case of HIV recorded a day. It became two cases a day starting early this year and then last May, it jumped to five cases per day. New infections make up most of the new cases while the rest are long-time carriers of the virus who only knew about their status recently when they decided to take a HIV test after becoming more aware of the need to know their status.

If it is any consolation, he added, the Philippines still has one of the lowest prevalence rate of HIV/Aids cases in the world.

Much really needs to be done to stem the continuing rise of HIV cases in the country. This can be done through an aggressive promotion of the awareness of HIV/Aids in the country by the public and private sectors. We should all act now lest we see a HIV/Aids epidemic blow up in our faces in the near future.