MANILA, Philippines - More Filipinos are not only getting afflicted but are dying of AIDS, the Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday.
Data from the DOH’s National Epidemiology Center (NEC) showed that at least one Filipino dies every month due to complications resulting from having the deadly virus.
The DOH said deaths due to HIV/AIDS have been increasing for the past two years.
From a total of 69 deaths in 2011, the DOH said the figure more than doubled to 177 last year.
In the first five months of 2012 alone, the DOH recorded a total of 65 HIV/AIDS deaths.
More than half or 60 percent of those who died from January to May were males while only eight percent were female.
Government health experts said the highest number of deaths occurred among the 25 to 29 years age group followed by those from 30 to 34 years and then by 35 to 39 years age bracket.
Among the reported deaths this year, sexual contact was the most common mode of HIV transmission and accounted for 94 percent of the cases.
Since January 1984 until May 2013, there were 774 reported deaths among people with HIV. Seventy-six percent of them were males.
There have been 81 deaths among the youths (15-24 years old) and 15 deaths among children (below 15 years old).
The annual number of deaths from 1984-2010 ranges from 2 to 36 with an average of 14 deaths per year. A total of 13,594 confirmed HIV cases were recorded since 1984.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier issued new guidelines encouraging early provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV patients.