The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who are tested reactive to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to rise.
ACTS-OFW partylist said that the rise in the number of cases has been alarming, noting that 90 OFWs were newly diagnosed with HIV last January, which a 33% increase compared to the same month last year.
Because of the growing cases, the cumulative number of OFWs found living with HIV since the government began passive surveillance of the virus in 1984 is now 6,345.
Due to the increasing number, the partylist wanted to spread the message of awareness and prevention among the community.
OFWs now make up 10% of the cases in the National HIV and AIDS Registry which were recorded from January 1984 to June 2018.
Out of the 6,345 OFWs who have HIV, 5,471 or 86 percent, are male with the median age of 32.
HIV is a human-to-human transmitted virus that attacks and weakens a person’s immune system. AIDS, on the other hand, is the progression of the HIV infection in the body which occurs when the immune system is already weak making it prone to opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.
