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Philippines posts highest estimated adolescent HIV incidence in Asean
(newsinfo.inquirer.net)


Filipino artists whose works were featured on our daily random thread covers.

uy pilipins nambawan!!!
You joke, but the size and extent of infection is far more disturbing. Slow death by HIV is also harrowing.
It's not funny.
HIV is no longer a death sentence.
...if you have access to the necessary medications.
I think access is not an issue. It's mostly about awareness and the overall stigma around it. That's why we need more sex education in the country so that more people are aware of how to protect themselves and on how to get checked and treated. And, let's remove the negative stigma around it so that people wouldn't be scared of getting tested or getting treated.
You say that as if the medications had zero side effects and weren’t onerous to take continually.
My point is that getting HIV doesn't mean all hope is lost that you now give up in life. Yes, there are side effects and it might make quality of life lesser, but life is hard, even if you have HIV or not. I'm not saying that just because HIV is not a death sentence people should already go and have unprotected sex out there. All I want to emphasize is that people shouldn't look down into people with HIV, and people shouldn't feel down if they have HIV.
This country has serious healthcare insurance problems, made worse by a financial scandal in that millions or even billions were unaccounted for and left unresolved, with only resignations and charges but no imprisonment for embezzlement, theft and other crimes. Therefore anyone impoverished, infected and lacking finances for treatment will likely have higher chances of mortality.
https://noai.duckduckgo.com/?q=philhealth+scandal&ia=web
Lacking finances for treatment will definitely give you higher chances of mortality, may it be with HIV or cancer or COVID or any other disease. Compared with let's say Stage 4 cancer, HIV can be controlled and is not a death sentence. The corruption on PhilHealth is a different issue that is instead patched up by increasing the contribution of every working Filipino and it is now required to be paid for even if you do not have a job for a period of time. Corruption does affect possible funding for health https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/news/up/article/2025/news_67c0f543e2003.php but the solution towards that is electing better politicians which is already very far from the initial "HIV is no longer a death sentence" topic.