This is a wake-up call.
“Quezon City has the most number of HIV/AIDS cases in NCR, the Department of Health – National Capital Region (DOH-NCR) revealed as it led the distribution of condoms in various entertainment centers in the city on Friday, Mar 14,” reports Jenny F. Manongdo on Manila Bulletin Online.
The DOH’s HIV/AIDS Registry for January 2014 showed a total of 224 confirmed cases.
In the registry, Quezon City had 54 HIV cases and 6 confirmed AIDS cases; Manila had 4 confirmed cases; Pasig, 4 HIV cases; Makati, 15 asymptomatic cases; Caloocan 1 confirmed case; Mandaluyong, two confirmed cases, Taguig, 3 cases; Paranaque, 2; Marikina, 1; Las Pinas, one confirmed case, San Juan City, four cases, Muntinlupa and Valenzuela, three recorded cases each, Navotas City, two cases and Pateros, one case.
Alarmed by the numbers, DoH Undersecretary Teodora Herbosa said, “We will be flooding Metro Manila with condoms if it is the only way we can prevent the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. It is a critical and the only effective element in the prevention and control of the disease and available tool in reducing the transmission of sexual infections and diseases.”
