954 HIV cases reported in September: DOH

November 9, 2018

More than 900 cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been reported in the month of September, according to the Department of Health (DOH) Friday.

Based on the September HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines, there were 954 new HIV cases reported across the country.

The figure is slightly higher than the 938 new HIV cases reported in September.

Of the total September 2018 cases, 19 percent or 179 had clinical manifestations of being advanced HIV infection or acquired immunodeficiency deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The DOH also reported 24 deaths from HIV/AIDS for the month of September.

Sexual contact remains the predominant mode of transmission with 936 (98%), of which 800 (85%) are males who have sex with males.

Male-to-male sex accounted for 563 cases; followed by 237 from those having sex with both male and female; and 136 from male-to-female sex.

Other mode of transmission were needle sharing among injecting drug users accounted for 9 cases.

There were four cases of mother-to-child transmission while another 5 cases had no data on the mode of transmission, said the health department.

Almost one third (28 percent or 266 cases) were from the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by Calabarzon (15 percent or 141 cases), Central Luzon (11 percent, or 104 cases), Central Visayas (10 percent, 91 cases), Davao Region (6 percent, 59 cases), and Soccsksargen (6 percent, 53 cases) to comprise the top six regions with the most number of newly diagnosed cases for the month.

From January to September, there are 8,533 new HIV cases, including 1,520 AIDS cases, and 459 deaths. DMS