Chelsea Thompson
August 29th, 2008
AIDS Cases Seen on the Rise in the Philippines
When the topic of HIV/AIDS comes up in conversation, most people automatically begin thinking about the effects of the disease in Africa. Most people do not realize that that the illness is growing rapidly on other continents and in other countries as well. Statistics concerning positive HIV cases are definitely on the rise in the Philippines. Now that there are treatments for the disease, more and more people in the Philippines are making it known that they have contracted the virus. This is because anti-retroviral drugs are being made offered at no cost. In the year 2007, the number of Filipino AIDS cases averaged at around 7,000 and 300 new cases have developed in the past year. Even though so many new cases of the virus are being made known, the disease is still considered low prevalence in the country. Less than .01 percent of the population and less than five percent of high-risk people were infected. The low prevalence pertaining to the virus is “masking the threat” of HIV/AIDS spreading in the Philippines.
It is my opinion that if HIV/AIDS cases are on the rise, then the prevalence placed on it should also rise in order to keep the viruses from spreading even more. I feel that if people are more educated about the virus, it will help keep numbers of victims that have contracted the disease to a minimum. I do, however feel like making anti-retroviral drugs available to the public for free is a good idea because people who couldn’t normally afford treatment would be able to prolong their health.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSP21147420080828?sp=true
3 comments:
I agree with most of your opinions on this matter. I think it to be a wonderful idea that education should be an essential part in correcting this problem. I'm not sure what they are currently doing about education now, but hopefully in the future they can improve on it and make it available for all.
Where I disagree with is the comment that the anti-viral medications should be given out for free. Keep in mind that most, if not all, of these people infected with AIDS are adults, and accompanied with education, should be held to a higher standard as quality decision making adults. Making the medication available for free would put extreme cost on the government/health organizations when a lot of the problem could be re-routed to a solution involving education and smart choices.
Wow, I was surprised by the number of Filipinos diagnosed with the disease. One thing I've learned in researching this disease in high school is that prevention is key. What John said about smart choices is exactly right. But, you have to think about those that contracted the disease who weren't given the choice. Cases where poverty is the only downfall. The fact that there is a way to have access to the anti-viral medication is great. If the government and/or health organizations can do such a thing, then let them. In my opinion, the government should be doing this anyway. Of course there are always exceptions, those that make the wrong choices, those that try to take advantage of the government. But, this is essentially about prolonging the lives of innocent people. So.....why not?
I am one of those people who automatically associate AIDS and Africa. I think that the reason that we do not hear about the diease in countries until it has exploded is because shame is often found in having AIDS. I do not think that there should be too much critisim with AIDS anymore. It is now grown beyond just an STD to a global pandemic. I agree that education is the number one issue here. Not only education about the diease but education on how to handle the diease on a global level.
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