Bill strengthening law on HIV response OK’d

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to strengthen the 20-year-old law on the government’s response to the rising cases of HIV-AIDS in the country.

Senate Bill 1390 or the Philippine HIV-AIDS Policy Act of 2018 seeks to adopt a multi-sectoral approach in responding to the health problem.

The bill, sponsored by Senate committee on health chair Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito and Sen. Risa Hontiveros, also seeks to involve local communities, civil society organizations and patients in the fight against the disease.

With the House of Representatives having approved their own version of the bill in December last year, Congress will now convene for a bicameral conference committee to finalize the bill’s version for ratification and signing into law by President Duterte.

“This is an important victory in our fight to reverse the tide of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the country. We now have a stronger and modern policy tool to appropriately respond to this problem,” Hontiveros said. 

Recent data provided by the United Nations showed the Philippines has the highest HIV infection rate in the Asia-Pacific region.