HIV epidemic may be imminent in the Philippines: report

The report, published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society, said young adults, gay and bisexual men, prostitutes, injecting drug users, overseas Filipino workers and sex partners of all these groups were vulnerable to contracting the virus.

“There is no guarantee that a large HIV epidemic will be avoided in the near future. Indeed, an expanding HIV epidemic is likely to be only a matter of time as the components for such an epidemic are already present in the Philippines,” wrote Anna Farr and David Wilson at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

Unlike other countries in the region, the spread of HIV in the Philippines has been described as “low and slow” because of a disperse geography, relatively uncommon intravenous drug use, sexual conservatism and high male circumcision rates.

But the authors said an HIV epidemic was possible because of the presence of many conditions “for a large, increasing and generalized epidemic.”

“These include: a low rate of condom use; unsafe practices among intravenous drug users; large migration rates; increasing trends in extramarital and premarital sex; a lack of education and common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS; and cultural factors that inhibit public discussion of issues of a sexual nature,” they wrote.