[In the news] Number of OFWs with HIV went up by 56% in 2011 – GMAnews.tv

Number of OFWs with HIV went up by 56% in 2011 January 23, 2012 At least 271 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were reported to have contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2011, higher by 56 percent compared to the 174 OFWs found HIV-positive in 2010, a Philippine lawmaker said on Monday. In a statement,…

Human Rights Online Philippines

January 24, 2012

1–2 minutes

AIDS, Conditions and Diseases, Health, HIV, Overseas Filipino, Philippine, Saudi Arabia, Sexually transmitted disease

Number of OFWs with HIV went up by 56% in 2011
January 23, 2012

At least 271 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were reported to have contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2011, higher by 56 percent compared to the 174 OFWs found HIV-positive in 2010, a Philippine lawmaker said on Monday.

In a statement, Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list LPG Marketers’ Association (LPG-MA), said the new cases brought to 1,794 the number of OFWs found either HIV positive, or with full-blown Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) since 1984.

Ty noted that OFWs comprised 21 percent of the 8,364 listed cases in the National HIV and AIDS Registry by the end of last year.

HIV causes AIDS, which destroys the human body’s immune system. It does not have any known cure, although antiretroviral treatments can slow the advance of the disease.

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