“We need long-term human rights-based solutions to a huge problem that will just continue to worsen right under our noses if we continue having only kneejerk reactions.”
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By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Vincent (not his real name), 26, was diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) when he was 20. He was studying in a premier state university then. He said all his dreams vanished when he learned that he was positive for HIV. He kept it to himself and a few close friends. He did not tell his family.
“I do not want to experience that (stigma) especially if it would come from my family,” he told Bulatlat.com in an interview.
In a conservative country like the Philippines where sex outside marriage is frowned upon, persons living with HIV are likely to be subjected to moral judgments. To make matters worse, Filipinos are generally uninformed about HIV and AIDs, mainly because the subject of sex is considered as taboo. Thus, a person living with HIV (PLHIV) is likely to suffer from the stigma emanating from both moralism and ignorance.
The section on Declaration of Principles of Republic Act 8504 or the “Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998” states that “the State shall extend to every person suspected or known to be infected with HIV/AIDS full protection of his/her human rights and civil liberties.”
The RA 8504 guarantees to protect the identity of PLHIVs and safeguard their rights against all forms of discrimination. The law also clearly states that “compulsory HIV testing shall be considered unlawful unless otherwise provided in this Act.”
However, the recent pronouncement of the Department of Health (DOH) that it is seeking to revise RA 8504 to empower it to conduct mandatory testing runs contrary to the law.
It would subject PLHIVs such as Vincent to the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.
Backward thinking
Data from the DOH shows that reported new cases of HIV are increasing.
According to Noel Palaypayon, Supervising Health Program Officer and Deputy Unit Manager of the National HIV/AIDS/STI and Strategic Information Unit of the National Epidemiology Center of the DOH, the Philippines is among the nine countries with the highest increase in HIV reported cases among adults ages 15 to 49 years old.
“Globally, the reported new cases of HIV are declining. But in the Philippines since 2007, the reported new cases are increasing. From one new reported case per day in 2007 to 16 new reported cases per day or one new case reported every 1.5 hours,” Palaypayon said in HIV/AIDS forum organized by the DOH last May 12.
An article in Outrage Magazine also said that as per DOH data, there were 498 new HIV cases recorded in March 2014. A 35 percent increase from the same month last year. “Specifically, 381 of the 498 cases were men who have sex with men (MSM), 54 were because of drug use (through injecting), 63 were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had unprotected sexual relations, and one case was from a mother-to-child transmission. Since January 2014, there were already 1,432 cases that have been recorded; 146 of which developed to full blown AIDS, and 434 resulted in deaths,” the article read.
DOH data also showed that 83 percent of the new reported cases are from the National Capital Region (NCR).
To address this, Health Secretary Enrique Ona plans to make HIV test mandatory. The Network to Stop Aids-Philippines does not agree with this.
“The DOH proposal to enforce mandatory HIV testing demonstrates that among those involved in addressing the HIV epidemic in the Philippines, the health agency is by far the most backward and the most out-of-tune,” the group said in a statement posted at Outrage Magazine website.
Awareness-raising not mandatory testing
“Instead of a reactive measure like this, paramount is a more comprehensive and effective HIV awareness program. Compulsory HIV testing does not only violate the people’s rights, but also heightens stigma and discrimination,” the National Council of Churches in the Philippines said in a statement.
The Network to Stop Aids-Philippines (NSAP) said the current legal framework allows for various modes of HIV testing, but these have to be voluntary and confidential.
“This (position against mandatory testing) is clearly rights-based, but this is also premised on existing evidence that coercive modes of HIV testing actually result in a decrease in the coverage of testing – those who need to get tested fear discrimination and abuse so they hide underground once authorities require HIV testing. This fear is not unfounded, as HIV-related stigma and discrimination remain unaddressed in the Philippines. Imposing compulsory testing is operationally problematic (also unnecessarily costly) and it encourages human rights abuses.”
Michael David Tan, editor of Outrage Magazine, also said in the same article that mandatory testing is not the solution to stop the spread of HIV. He said mandatory testing only targets members of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer) community believed to have higher risk of acquiring HIV. Therefore, mandatory testing only encourages unnecessary stigmatization, Tan said in the article.
“What you should be doing is to better what are currently being offered. Because the continuing worsening situation only highlights that existing efforts are currently wanting. We need long-term human rights-based solutions to a huge problem that will just continue to worsen right under our noses if we continue having only kneejerk reactions,” said Tan. 
