Awareness does not stop someone from making mistakes but it allows someone

to learn from them. Learning is then followed by the involvement in eradicating the

dilemma. HIV/AIDS infection in the Philippines might be low but growing. The estimated

incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country remains under 0.1% of the total population in

2015. The Philippines has one of the lowest rates of infection, yet has one of the fastest

growing number of cases worldwide. Thus, this dilemma has to be stopped before it

gain more victims.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV is a disease that does not discriminate.

Anyone can contract this disease, which is why it is important for students to be aware

of how to protect themselves and prevent the transmission of HIV. According to our

speaker for today, Mr. Darwin, there have been 32 cases of newly diagnosed cases of

HIV per day in December 2018 and it climbed up to 42 cases in January 2019. Similarly

here in the Cordillera region, as of January 2019, 70% of the cases are from Baguio city

wherein the majority of them belonged to the age group of 25-34 years old. These

statistics presented to us are very alarming especially for someone like me studying

here in Baguio city.

The key to prevent HIV is ABCDE which stands for abstinence, be mutually

faithful with you partner, consistent and correct use of condoms, don’t use drugs and

early detection and education (Encisa, 2019). Like what we usually say, prevention is

better than cure that is why we must keep these in mind for it is better to stop something

bad from happening than it is to deal with it after it has happened. Aside from knowing

these, we should also know the different modes of transmission of this disease. HIV is

found in specific human body fluids. You can be infected with HIV if any of the following
fluids enter your body: blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), breast milk,

vaginal fluids, and rectal (anal) mucous. According to HIV.gov, other body fluids and

waste products like feces, nasal fluids, saliva, sweat, tears, urine, or vomit don’t contain

enough HIV to infect us unless they have blood mixed in them and you have significant

and direct contact with them. It can be transmitted in specific ways such as during

sexual contact, during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, as a result of injection

drug use, as a result of occupational exposure, and as a result of blood transfusion with

infected blood or an organ transplant from an infected donor.

HIV and AIDS awareness should be the instrument in reducing stigma and

discrimination that people living with HIV and at-risk communities face. Since its

discovery in 1981 to 2006, AIDS killed more than 25 million people. HIV infects about

0.6% of the world's population though it is not so big we must have the goal of

decreasing this percentage or much better if it is completely cured. Treatment with

antiretroviral drugs reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection.

Although antiretroviral medication is still not universally available, expansion of

antiretroviral therapy programs since 2004 has helped to turn the tide of AIDS deaths

and new infections in many parts of the world. In conclusion, our intensified awareness

and preventive measures, as well as the natural course of the epidemic can play a vital

role in eradicating the misery brought by this disease.

Garrote, Leigh-ann C.

Group 4

(7001) 1:30-3:00 PM