Sex remains predominant mode of HIV transmission

MANILA, Philippines — Sex remains the predominant mode of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said over the weekend.

Data from the DOH HIV/AIDS Registry of the Philippines showed that 99 percent of the 735 newly diagnosed HIV cases in October 2020 got infected through sex.

Male-to-male sex (MSM) accounted for a majority or 437 of the 725 who acquired HIV through sex. Another 200 had encounters with both male and female partners, while 88 got the infection from male-to-female sex.

There was one case of mother-to-child transmission which did not involve sex and nine cases in which the mode of transmission was not indicated.

The DOH said the 735 cases recorded in October were fewer compared with the 1,147 new HIV cases recorded in the same period last year.

It said 21 percent or 153 cases had clinical manifestations of being advanced HIV infections or acquired immunodeficiency deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

A total of 248 HIV/AIDS-related deaths were posted for the month of October 2020.

More than a third or 295 of the total cases were from the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by Region 4-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon or Calabarzon) with 146, and Central Luzon with 121.