MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

Lawmaker warns
of increasing cost
of treatment
for H,lV patients
By Rlo N. Arafa , ,
.t '

ANAKATUSUGAN partY-list ReP.

i Mike Defensor on SundaY said the
Department of Health wguld even'
tually spend some P[ billion every
year-fof the antirttrov\rhl -thcgpy of
ihe increasing number of Filipinos
living with t[.e human immunodefi'
ciency virus.
"Right now, the DoH is alreadY
spending around P478 million 9!9ry
year foi the 38,279 Filipinol livir-tg
with HIV and actually undcrgoing life'
savingART,'he said.
"Tfie amount is likely to balloon to
Pl billion annually by 2022 as more
Filipinos living with HIV ernerge and
seek treatment," he added.
The cost of a single course of heat'
ment for one HIV patient Per Year
would range P12,500 to P15,000.
"We assume that some 10,000 new
HIV cases will be discovercd annually
over the. next three yea$, and that the
DoH will succeed in getting:90 p€rcent
of them to undergo AR[,]' Defensor
said. t
\\ PA q€ - Aroa