There are a total of 3,175 cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus – Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) in Western Visayas, with one person in every 9 hours diagnosed this February 2019.
Department of Health-Center for Health Development in Region 6 (DOH-CHD6) said that the figure is based on their cumulative data from January 1986 to February 2019.
Iloilo City has the most number of cases at 791, followed by Iloilo province at 666, Negros Occidental at 554, Bacolod City at 506, Capiz at 222, Aklan with 209, Antique with 164, and Guimaras with 63.
Majority of those infected are male at 2,993.
In January to February 2019 alone, there were already 163 cases recorded (154 males, 9 females).
Based on their monitoring, DOH-CHD 6 said that there are already 303 deaths due to the disease in the Region. A total of 177 were recorded from 2016 to 2019.
Again, Iloilo City had the most number of deaths with 40, followed by Iloilo province with 3, Bacolod City with 37, Negros Occidental at 27, Aklan with 19, and Antique, Capiz and Guimaras with eight each.
Western Visayas is no. 5 among regions in the country with most cases of HIV/AIDS.
DOH 6 regional Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) coordinator Christine Mosqueda urged the public to undergo free HIV testing as early as possible, especially those who exhibit symptoms of the disease.
