Recent reports from DOH shows that more than half of newly-infected PLHIV (People Living with HIV) comes from age 20-29. This has been the running trend since 2008. Some new PLHIV were as young as 15 years old. This means that the actual threat of the HIV and AIDS epidemic is already felt and is affecting our younger generation, this includes students from high schools and colleges. Our young professionals that fuel the labor force and the Philippine economy is under attack. Based on the statistic that was published by the DOH (Department of Health) that in the our country we have (18,836) reported cases from year 1984-2014 and as of January to May this year the reported cases is (2,320). This May, 2014, alone we have (495) reported cases. Most of the cases (96%) were male.
As students, our role now shifts from a passive listener of lectures on Health Sciences that use to bore the four corners of the high school classroom a decade or two ago to a more active participation in the programs to advance awareness of the HIV epidemic to better equip every individual the potent weapon against this human tragedy: education. This article will highlight five areas where Information Forums on HIV and AIDS are usually focused: the Science behind HIV, Transmission, the ABCDE of Prevention, Educational Campaigns, and Fighting Stigma and Discrimination. What is the science behind HIV? It is a virus. As the name implies, Human Immuno Virus attacks the immune system of the person infected. Particularly, it destroys our immune soldiers called T-Cells or CD4 cells. These soldiers are tasked to protect an individual from constant attacks of germs, bacteria, fungi, other virus and pathogens we encounter from the air we breathe to the water we drink and the food we eat. Once HIV gets inside the person's body, it attacks these cells and replicates before destroying it. As time goes by more CD4 cells are destroyed and more HIV are reproduced.