Baguio AIDS Watch Council to implement HIV planning
An intensified approach on testing, treatment and monitoring for HIV AIDS through a Program Implementation Review, Strategic Planning and Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) drafting shall be scheduled as soon as possible.
This was the content of a letter from Medical Officer and Baguio AIDS Watch Council (AWAC) focal person Kea Ville Basbasan-Malucon as she informed the public that as of August 2022, 544 HIV cases were recorded in the city and measures should be done to suppress the further increase of cases.
A 95-95-95 fast-track target has been set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which is a challenge to achieve by 2030, Basbasan-Malucon said.
Eight years from now, the aim is that 95% of all persons living with HIV have been diagnosed, 95% of all diagnosed are on treatment, and 95% of those on treatment are virally suppressed, and that there are 200,000 or less with new infections, Basbasan-Malucon stated in her letter.
The illnesses are defined thus: HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, which when not treated leads to AIDS, while AIDS is a life-threatening condition which is transmitted through sexual contact, infected needles, mother and child – in pregnancy, through childbirth and breastfeeding.
Medication would help in both conditions, and could prevent progression over time; which are advocated in the 95-95-95 UNAIDS fast-track target.
On the planning program are briefers of current international, national and local Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and HIV-AIDS cases. Presentations of statistics, current strategies on combating HIV/AIDS services, and services provided through treatment hubs shall be done by the medical staff of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), Notre Dame Chartres Hospital (NDCH) and the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center.
Current HIV policies and guidelines including local city ordinances and AO 2022-0035 which delves on guidelines in the implementation of differentiated HIV testing services shall also be presented. The AO also presents alarming data that there is a 207% increase in HIV cases from 2010-2019; but that patients’ and their families rights shall be respected in view of all aspects taken in treatment and aftercare.
The workshop ends with a drafting of Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) as to the targets set, program implementation review and strategic planning; with agreements and commitment from all members.
The program shall be facilitated by representatives from the Baguio City Health Services Office (CHSO), BGHMC, RHWC, NDCH, Department of Health (DOH), Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), AWAC, and other agencies.
The AWAC is chaired by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, with co-chairpersons; AWAC OIC Marlene de Castro, Committee chair on Health and Sanitation, Ecology and Environmental Protection Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda. The action officers are CHSO head Dr. Rowena Galpo, Assistant CHSO and Primary HIV care clinic physician Celia Flor Brillantes and RHWC focal person Dr. Basbasan-Malucon.
Member agencies include Councilors Levy Lloyd Orcales and Michael Lawana; City Social Welfare and Development Office, Persons with disabilities affairs office (PDAO), Department of Education (Dep-Ed), Public Information Office (PIO), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Baguio Association of Bars and Entertainers Society (BABES), Baguio Center for Young Adults (BCYA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Baguio-Benguet Medical Society (BBMS), BGHMC HIV/AIDS core team, NDCH HIV/AIDS core team, Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP-Baguio Chapter), Philippine Red Cross Baguio Chapter, Philippine Association of Medical Technologists (PAMET BBMP chapter), Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).The dates and venue of the three-day planning program shall be announced soon through the local government unit health authorities. – JGFianza
