OFWs linked to fresh surge of HIV, AIDS cases



By: Romsanne Ortiguero
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – Returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are increasingly being linked to the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS cases, and some worried lawmakers are entertaining the idea of requiring blood tests to curb the risk to their families.
Party-list Rep. Arnel Ty discussed the recent case surge in an interview on Radyo Singko’s Punto Asintado, hosted by Erwin Tulfo and Martin Andanar.
Last month, the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health reported 290 new cases of HIV, and the numbers continue to rise.
Several congressmen are urgently pushing House Bill 5312 or the “AIDS Prevention and Control Law.” The bill authored by Representatives Arnel Ty (LPGMA), Bolet Banal (Quezon City), Isabel Climaco (Zamboanga City), Arlene Bag-ao (AKBAYAN) and Janette Garin (Iloilo), aims to prevent AIDS and amend the old AIDS Prevention and Control Law which is deemed inadequate to curb the spread of the disease.
The alarming increase in the number of Filipinos afflicted with the dreaded disease is associated with the practice of having multiple partners and unprotected sex. The data also revealed that AIDS-stricken OFWs are increasing in numbers. There is an assumption that balikbayan OFWs who are already carriers of the disease eventually pass it on to their families. The lack of blood testing for balikbayan is seen to contribute to the spread of the disease.
Currently, OFWs are usually required by prospective employers to undergo blood testing before they work overseas, but blood testing upon their return is not compulsory. OFWs who are not diagnosed with AIDS but are already carriers thus pass it on to their partners. This is why, Ty explained, they are pushing mandatory blood testing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more