DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SEPTEMBER 2010

NATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY CENTER

Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In September 2010, there were 153 new HIV Ab Table 1. Quick Facts
sero-positive individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Demographic Data Sept Jan-Sep Cumulative Data:
2010 2010 1984—2010
Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) and reported Total Reported Cases 5,625
153 1,201
Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry

to the HIV and AIDS Registry (Table 1). This was a Asymptomatic Cases 150 1,186 4,773
173% increase compared to the same period last year
AIDS Cases 3 15 852
(n=56 in 2009) [Figure 1]. Males 4,332*
145 1100
Females 8 101 1,282*
Most of the cases (95%) were males. The median age
Youth 15-24yo 45 372 1,096
was 28 years (age range:18-58 years). The 20-29 year
(54%) age-group had the most number of cases. Fifty Children <15yo 0 3 55

percent (77) of the reported cases were from the Na- Reported Deaths due to AIDS 0 2 323
tional Capital Region (NCR). *Note: No data available on sex for eleven (11) cases.

Reported mode of transmission was sexual contact Figure 1. Number of New HIV Cases per Month (2008-2010)
(150) and re-using needles among injecting drug users 175
150
(3) [Table 2, page 2]. Males having sex with other

Number of New Cases

125
Males (83%) were the predominant type of sexual 100
transmission [Figure 2]. Most (98%) of the cases were 75

still asymptomatic at the time of reporting [Figure 3]. 50

25
There were no reported deaths for this month. 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

AIDS Cases 2008 40 52 38 47 35 32 53 41 57 59 36 38

2009 65 47 59 66 85 40 70 61 56 80 80 126

Of the 153 HIV positive cases, three were reported as 2010 143 130 120 154 153 109 131 108 153

AIDS cases. All were males. The median age was 25

years (age range: 19-37 years). One acquired the in- Figure 2. Comparison of the Proportion of Types of Sexual
fection through bisexual contact, and the other two Transmission in 2010, 2009 & Cumulative Data (1984-2010)
through homosexual contact. 100% Heterosexual
90% 26 Bisexual
15
80% Homosexual
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) 2416
Proportion of Cases

70%

60% 61
Twenty-one of the 153 (14%) reported cases were 50%
19
OFWs [Figure 9, page 3]. Most (91%) of the cases 40% 953
were males. The median age was 32 years (age range: 30%

22-58 years). All cases acquired the HIV infection 20% 63 20 1658
through sexual contact (6 heterosexual, 8 homosexual, 10%

and 7 bisexual). 0%
Sep 2 0 10 Sep 2 0 0 9 C umul at i ve

Figure 3. Number of HIV/AIDS Cases Reported in the Philippines by Year, Jan 1984 to Sept 2010 (N=5,625)
1500

1350

1200

1050

900

750

600

450

300

150

0
'84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10

TOTAL 2 10 29 38 32 39 66 85 72 102 118 116 154 117 189 158 123 174 184 193 199 210 309 342 528 835 1201

Asymptomatic 0 6 18 25 21 29 48 68 51 64 61 65 104 94 144 80 83 118 140 139 161 171 273 312 506 806 1186

AIDS 2 4 11 13 11 10 18 17 21 38 57 51 50 23 45 78 40 56 44 54 38 39 36 30 22 29 15

Death 2 4 10 12 9 8 15 13 13 11 19 24 27 10 16 17 9 20 11 11 8 16 18 10 *7 1 2

*Five initially asymptomatic cases reported in 2008, died due AIDS that same year. 1
Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry September 2010

AIDS Cases (1984-2010) Fig 4. Proportion of Modes of Transmission of AIDS Cases by Year,
Jan 1984—September 2010
Of the 1,201 HIV positive cases in 2010, fifteen were reported
as AIDS cases. Ninety-three percent were males. Ages ranged
100%

from 19-41 years (median 30 years). All acquired the infection

through sexual contact [heterosexual (2), homosexual contact 75%

(11), and bisexual contact (2)].

Proportion of Cases
From 1984 to 2010, there were 852 AIDS cases reported, 71% 50%

(605) were males. Median age was 35 years (range 1-72

years). Of the AIDS cases, there were 323 (38%) deaths 25%

during the reported period. Sexual contact was the most com-
mon mode of HIV transmission, accounting for 93% (791) of
all AIDS cases. More than half (448) of sexual transmission
0%
1984-2007 2008 2009 2010

was through heterosexual contact, followed by homosexual Needl e P r i c k 2 0 0 0

contact (269) then bisexual contact (74). Other modes of B l ood T r ansf us i on 10 0 0 0

M T CT 16 0 1 0

transmission include: mother-to-child transmission (17), blood I DU 3 1 0 0

transfusion (10), injecting drug use (4), and needle prick inju- B i sexual Cont act 60 4 8 2

ries (2) [Figure 4]. Three percent (28) of the AIDS cases did Homosex ual Cont act 234 10 14 11

Het er os ex ual Cont act 433 7 6 2

not report mode of HIV transmission. *Note: 28 did not report mode of transmission

Demographic Characteristics (1984-2010)

In 2010, there were a total of 1,201 cases reported. 92% of Figure 5. Proportion of Sex & Age-Groups in Sep 2010 & Jan-Sep 2010
the cases reported were males (1,100). Ages ranged from 100%

1-73 years old (median 28 years). The 20-29 year old age
group (56%) had the most number of cases for 2010. For the 75%

male age group, the most number of cases were found

among the 20-24 years old (28%) and 25-29 years old (30%)
Proportion of Cases

50%

[Figure 5].

From 1984 to 2010, there were 5,625 HIV Ab sero-positive 25%

cases reported (Table 1), of which 4,773 (85%) were

asymptomatic and 852 (15%) were AIDS cases. As shown in 0%
Sept meber 2010 (M ) Sept ember 2010 (F) 2010 (M al e) 2010 (Femal e)

Figure 6, there is a significant difference in the number of 50 & ol der 4 0 34 4

male and female cases reported. Seventy-seven percent 35-49yo 30 2 197 22

(4,332) were males. Ages ranged from 1-73 years (median 30 25-34yo 67 5 527 42

years). The age groups with the most number of cases were:
15-24yo 44 1 341 31

1-14y o 0 0 1 2

20-24 years (17%), 25-29 (24%) and 30-34 years (20%)

[Figure 6].
Figure 6. Comparison of the Distribution of Male and Female HIV Cases by Age-Group and Certain Highlighted Years
50 & o lder 1984‐2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
45-49yo

40-44yo

35-39yo

30-34yo

25-29yo

20-24yo

15-19yo

Number of Male Cases <15yo Number of Female Cases

1250 1000 750 500 250 0 0 250 500 750 1000 1250

<15y o 15-19y o 20-24y o 25-29y o 30-34y o 35-39yo 40-44y o 45-49yo 50 & ol der <15yo 15-19y o 20-24y o 25-29yo 30-34yo 35-39yo 40-44yo 45-49y o 50 & ol der

2010 1 39 302 328 199 94 72 31 34 2010 2 5 26 17 25 10 6 6 4

2009 1 22 179 227 125 89 41 19 29 2009 1 4 13 19 21 20 14 6 5

2008 2 11 91 141 90 59 36 23 20 2008 0 0 8 14 8 10 9 3 3

2007 6 1 36 74 54 43 30 15 19 2007 3 0 4 16 12 14 6 5 3

2006 1 2 26 48 40 38 20 21 23 2006 3 3 13 13 22 16 8 4 8

1984-2005 20 12 95 252 320 283 229 149 134 1984-2005 15 30 174 196 168 124 76 26 33

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 Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry September 2010

Modes of Transmission (1984-2010)

In 2010, 86% (1,032) were infected through sexual con- Figure 7. Proportion of Modes of HIV Transmission by Age-Group, 2010
tact, 12% (141) through needle sharing among injecting 600

drug users and <1% (3) was mother-to-child transmission;

2% (25) had no reported data on mode of transmission 500

(Table 2). There were 954 males and 78 females infected 400

through sexual transmission. Their ages ranged from 16-73

Number of Cases
years old. There were 131 males and 18 females who were 300

infected through sharing of unclean needles. Their ages

ranged from 16-55 years old (median 27 years) [Figure 7].
200

100

Of the 5,625 with HIV from 1984 to 2010, 89% (5,027)

were infected through sexual contact, 1% (52) through 0

<6yo 7- 14yo 15-17yo 18- 24yo 25-34yo 35-49yo 50&older

mother-to-child transmission and 3% (149) through needle
sharing among injecting drug users. Other modes of trans- Mat ernal t o Child 3 - - - - - -

mission are listed in Table 2. No data is available for 7% Inject ing Dr ug Use - Female - - - 6 6 4 -

(375) of the cases. Cumulative data shows 48% (2,416) Inject ing Dr ug Use - Male - - 8 47 35 32 3

- - - 22 34 18 4
were infected through heterosexual contact, 33% (1,658)
Het er osexual Cont act - Female

Het er osexual Cont act - Male - - - 20 57 31 16

through homosexual contact, and 19% (953) through Bisexual Cont act - - 1 99 186 54 4
bisexual contact. From 2007 there has been a shift in the Homosexual Cont act - - 3 159 241 73 10
predominant trend of sexual transmission from heterosex- *No data available on Modes of Transmission for twenty five (25) cases
ual contact (27%) to males having sex with males (73%)
[Figure 8]. Figure 8. Proportion of Types of Sexual Transmission, Jan 1984—Sept 2010
100%

Table 2. Reported Mode of HIV Transmission 90%

Mode of Transmission Sept 2010 Jan—Sep 2010 Cumulative 80%

n=153 n=1,201 N=5,625 70%

Proportion of Cases

Sexual Contact 150 1,032 5,027 60%

Heterosexual contact 26 (17%) 202 (20%) 2, 416 (48%) 50%

Homosexual contact 63 (42%) 486 (47%) 1,658 (33%) 40%

30%
Bisexual contact 61 (41%) 344 (33%) 953 (19%)
20%

Blood/Blood Products 0 0 19
10%

Injecting Drug Use 3 141 149 0%

'84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10
Needle Prick Injury 0 0 3
Het er osexual 1 7 24 24 16 19 35 30 41 47 58 56 81 82 138 114 93 128 129 129 123 131 193 139 160 216 202

Mother-to-Child 0 3 52 B i sexual 0 2 0 4 2 2 4 4 5 2 3 8 7 7 9 10 8 5 8 14 12 14 26 74 127 252 344

No Data Available 0 25 375 Homosexual 0 1 4 3 4 6 8 15 5 16 20 21 30 25 36 30 17 32 46 40 27 47 81 107 215 336 486

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)

In 2010, there were 132 HIV positive OFWs, comprising 11% of cases reported for the year [Figure 9]. Of these, 112
(85%) were males and 20 (15%) females; all infected through sexual contact.
There were 1,481 HIV positive OFWs since 1984, comprising 26% of all reported cases [Figure 9]. Seventy-five percent
(1,112) were males. Ages ranged from 18 to 69 years (median 36 years). Sexual contact (96%) was the predominant
mode of transmission (Table 3). Eighty-two percent (1,215) were asymptomatic while 18% (266) were AIDS cases.
Figure 9. Number of OFWs Compared to Non-OFWs by Year (1984-2010*)
Table 3. Reported Mode of HIV Transmission Among OFWs 1200
Mode of Transmission Sep 2010 Jan-Sep 2010 Cumulative
n= 21 n= 132 N=1,481 1000

Sexual Transmission 21 132 1,419

Number of Cases

800

Heterosexual contact 6 (28%) 53 (40%) 983 (69%) 600

Homosexual contact 8 (38%) 43 (33%) 268 (19%)
400
Bisexual contact 7 (33%) 36 (27%) 168 (12%)
200
Blood/Blood Products 0 0 10
0
Injecting Drug Use 0 0 1 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10*

Needle Prick Injury 0 0 3 OFW 1 2 0 3 9 5 10 7 14 29 31 24 35 27 51 67 60 79 96 94 88 94 130 106 123 164 132

No Data Available 0 0 48 Non-OFW 1 8 29 35 23 34 56 78 58 73 87 92 119 90 138 91 63 95 88 99 111 116 179 236 405 671 1069

% of OFW 50% 20% 0% 8% 28% 13% 15% 8% 19% 28% 26% 21% 23% 23% 27% 42% 49% 45% 52% 49% 44% 45% 42% 31% 23% 20% 11%

*Data includes January to September 2010 only.

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 Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry September 2010

Program Related Information

Of the 153 HIV positive cases reported in September 2010, two were classified as AIDS cases. Sixty-four percent of the
cases received information on HIV prevention, services available for HIV cases, implications of an HIV positive result
from screening and confirmation. Their sources of information were one-on-one counseling, group counseling, pre-
departure orientation seminar (PDOS), pamphlets, videos, internet and seminars.

Blood Units Screened for HIV

Note: The following information is from the National Voluntary Blood Safety Program (NVBSP) which monitors blood safety of
donated blood. HIV reactive blood units are referred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for confirmation.
RITM is the National Reference Laboratory for the NVBSP.

From January to September 2010, 104 blood units were confirmed to Table 4. Results of Blood Units Referred for HIV Confirmation
be positive by the RITM.
Monthly Report 2010
For September 2010, out of the 40 blood units referred for HIV Blood units* Positive Indeterminate
confirmation, 10 units were positive for HIV, and 30 units were referred

negative for HIV [Table 4]. January 52 9 1

February 89 12 3

Figure 10. HIV Positive Blood Units by Month & Year (2008-2010) March 72 15 1
April 79 15 5
20
May 43 9 0
June 80 17 2
Number of Positive Blood Units

15
July 62 11 1
August 46 6 0
10 September 40 10 -
October - - -
November - - -
5
December - - -
Total for the year
563 104 13
0
J an Feb M ar A pr M ay Jun Jul A ug Sep Oc t Nov Dec T ot al
(Jan –Sept only)

2008 10 7 4 8 8 2 9 6 7 7 4 2 74 * One blood donor can donate more than one blood unit.
2009 5 5 10 10 7 5 7 7 9 12 3 9 89 ** These are HIV positive blood units, not donors. Donors of HIV positive blood units
2010 9 12 15 15 9 17 11 6 10 104 may or may not be in the HIV & AIDS Registry.

National HIV/AIDS & STI Philippine HIV & AIDS Registry

Strategic Information and
Surveillance Unit The Philippine HIV & AIDS Registry is the official record of the total number of
laboratory-confirmed HIV positive individuals, AIDS cases and deaths, and HIV
positive blood units in the Philippines. All individuals in the registry are confirmed
by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) at San Lazaro Hospital.
National Epidemiology Center, While all blood units are confirmed by the Research Institute for Tropical
Department of Health, Bldg. 9, Medicine (RITM). Both are National Reference Laboratories (NRL) of the
San Lazaro Compound, Department of Health (DOH).
Sta. Cruz, Manila 1003 Philippines
Mandatory HIV testing is unlawful in the Philippines (RA 8504). The process of
Tel: +632 743 8301 local 1900 to 1907 reporting to the Registry is as follows: All blood samples from accredited HIV
Fax: +632 743 6076 / 743 1937 testing facilities that are screened HIV reactive are sent to SACCL (individuals)
Email: HIVepicenter@gmail.com or RITM (blood units) for confirmation. Confirmed HIV positive individuals and
Website: http://www.doh.gov.ph blood units are reported to the DOH-National Epidemiology Center (NEC), and are
recorded in the Registry.

The Registry is a passive surveillance system. Except for HIV confirmation by the
NRL, all other data submitted to the Registry are secondary and cannot be veri-
fied. An example would be an individual’s reported place of residence. The
Registry is unable to determine if this reported address is where the person got
infected, or where the person lived after being infected, or where the person is
presently living, or whether the address is valid. This limitation has major implica-
tions to data interpretation. Thus, readers are cautioned to carefully weigh the
data and consider other sources of information prior to arriving at conclusions.