CDO dad underscores need to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- City Councilor Maria Lourdes Gaane called for a heightened information campaign on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), following a rise in the number of younger patients.

Gaane, a physician by profession, on Thursday said individuals who are prone to risky behaviors should avail of counseling and literacy services related to HIV/AIDS and visit the Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Center at the City Health Office (CHO).

"It is important that at a young age, this population should know the basics of HIV and how to protect themselves," she said, noting that the youngest person to be infected in Mindanao was a 13-year old boy from Davao City.

"The usual transmission is unprotected sex, sharing of infected needles, and mother to child transmission," she added.

Gaane said data from the Department of Health (DOH) 10 (Northern Mindanao) showed that HIV cases are prevalent among members of the 15-24 age group.

DOH statistics showed that in this city, some 459 HIV cases have been reported from the year 2000 up to the present.

The department said 1,142 HIV cases have been reported in Northern Mindanao, the highest of which is from Cagayan de Oro City (42 percent), followed by Iligan City (10 percent), Valencia City in Bukidnon province (4 percent), and Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental and Malaybalay City in Bukidnon (at 3 percent each).

The DOH said the average age of infected victims is 16 years. (PNA)