DOH-Bicol intensifies prevention, screening, treatment for HIV

By Connie Calipay

LEGAZPI CITY --- The Department of Health (DOH) 5 (Bicol) is intensifying efforts to make human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and treatment more accessible and promote prevention and early intervention across the region.

In his speech at the International Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Candlelight Memorial in Albay on Friday afternoon, DOH-5 program coordinator Samuel Banico said they now have treatment hubs in all provinces of the region.

“We have expanded our networks. Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) started their treatment hub in 2007, followed by Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in 2017, and Masbate Provincial in 2021. This time, in 2024, all provinces in the Bicol region already have treatment hubs. We have seven treatment hubs and one primary healthcare facility,” he said.

The other treatment facilities in the Bicol region are the Bicol Region General Hospital and Geriatric Medical Center, Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital, Family Planning Organization of the Philippines - Masbate Chapter, Eastern Bicol Medical Center, and Sorsogon Provincial Hospital.

Banico said every province could now have its confirmatory test situationally accessible and free.

The agency, he said, aims to use innovative technologies to capacitate persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and strengthen the collaboration with various community-based organizations in helping contain the virus.

“What we need to improve is our viral load testing sites and the number of preparation-dispensing facilities. Most of our social hygiene clinics and major city offices are now dispensing our pre-exposure prophylaxis,” Banico said.

As of February, the DOH-5 recorded 3,353 PLHIVs, of which 94 percent, or 3,153, are male and 200 are female.

“It has already shifted from male-female to male-male in the mode of transmission,” he said.

Data showed a higher prevalence of cases in the younger age groups, with 54 percent of cases aged 25-34, and 28 percent aged 15-24.

“These numbers indicate that young adults and adolescents are at the highest risk. We need to advocate and do the testing. It’s our young adults and adolescents,” Banico said.

He cited the need to expand HIV prevention programs focused on the key population; strengthen the pre-exposure prophylaxis programs for high-risk groups; enhance awareness of combination prevention commodities; and promote safe sex practices.

“Address the behaviors and stigma on preventing testing and treatment, so, what we need to do is target the education program in schools and workplaces, promote youth-friendly health services for easy access to HIV testing and counseling, and integrate HIV prevention in the reproductive health and sex education curriculum,” he added.

He noted that apart from community-based testing and treatment accessibility, an increase in funding for awareness programs and educational campaigns is also crucial for HIV prevention.

“Our medicines are effective. The challenge now is prevention and diagnosis linkage to care, for it is proven that with our life-saving drugs, our PLHIVs can live a normal, healthy life,” he said. (With reports from Angelica Serrano and Lily Nocomora – OJTs/PNA)

FIGHT VS. AIDS. Albay officials, health authorities, stakeholders, and participants join the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial to remember the lives lost to the disease, at the Albay Astrodome in Legazpi City on Friday (May 16, 2025). During the event, the regional health office said it is intensifying efforts to make testing and treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, more accessible, and promote prevention and early intervention across the region. (Photo courtesy of DOH-5)