DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DECEMBER 2010

NATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY CENTER

Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In December 2010, there were 174 new HIV Ab
sero-positive individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Table 1. Quick Facts
Demographic Data Dec Jan-Dec Cumulative Data:
Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) and reported 2010 2010 1984—2010
to the HIV and AIDS Registry (Table 1). This was a Total Reported Cases 6,015
Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry

174 1,591
38% increase compared to the same period last year Asymptomatic Cases 5,158
171 1,571
(n=126 in 2009), and the highest number of cases AIDS Cases 857
3 20
reported in a month since 1984 [Figure 1]. Males 4,699*
167 1,467
Females 7 124 1,305*
Most of the cases (96%) were males. The median age
Youth 15-24yo 59 489 1,213
was 28 years (age range:15-69 years). The 20-29 year
(62%) age-group had the most number of cases. Fifty- Children <15yo 0 3 55

seven percent (98) of the reported cases were from the Reported Deaths due to AIDS 0 2 323
National 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)
(168) and re-using needles among injecting drug users
(5). One did not report mode of transmission [Table 2,
180
155
page 2]. Males having sex with other Males (84%) 130

[homosexual and bisexual] was the predominant type 105

80
of sexual transmission [Figure 2]. Most (98%) of the 55

cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting 30

5
[Figure 3]. There were no reported deaths for this -20
month. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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

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

2010 143 130 120 154 153 109 131 108 153 104 112 174

Of the 174 HIV positive cases, three were reported as

AIDS cases. All were males. The median age was 25 Figure 2. Comparison of the Proportion of Types of Sexual
years (age range: 25-28 years). One acquired infection Transmission in 2010, 2009 & Cumulative Data (1984-2010)
through bisexual contact and the other two through 100% Het erosexual
homosexual contact. There were no reported deaths 90% 27 16 Bisexual

for this month. 80%

22 2485
Homosexual
Proportion of Cases

70%
56
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) 60%
50%
1072
Fourteen of the 174 (8%) reported cases were OFWs [Figure 40%
81
9, page 3]. All of the cases were males. The median age was 30%
85
31 years (age range: 24-52 years). All cases acquired the 20%
1849
infection through sexual contact [heterosexual (4), 10%

homosexual (4), and bisexual (6)]. 0%

D ec 2 0 10 D ec 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 December 2010 (N=6,015)

1650

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 1591

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 1571

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 20

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

AIDS Cases (1984-2010) Fig 4. Proportion of Modes of Transmission of AIDS Cases by Year,
Jan 1984—December 2010
Of the 1,591 HIV positive cases in 2010, twenty were reported
as AIDS cases. Ninety-five percent were males. Ages ranged
100%

from 19-41 years (median 28 years). All acquired the infection

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

(14), and bisexual contact (4)].

Proportion of Cases
From 1984 to 2010, there were 857 AIDS cases reported, 71% 50%

(610) 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% (796) 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 (272) then bisexual contact (76). Other modes of B l ood T r ans f 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 s ex ual Cont ac t 60 4 8 4

ries (2) [Figure 4]. Three percent (28) of the AIDS cases did Homos ex ual Cont ac t 234 10 14 14

Het er os ex ual Cont ac t 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 1,591 cases reported. 92% of Figure 5. Proportion of Sex & Age-Groups in Dec 2010 & Jan-Dec 2010
the cases reported were males (1,467). Ages ranged from 100%

1-73 years old (median 28 years). The 20-29 year old age
group (57%) 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%), 25-29 years old (30%) 50%

and 30-34 years old (18%) [Figure 5].

From 1984 to 2010, there were 6,015 HIV Ab sero-positive 25%

cases reported (Table 1), of which 5,158 (86%) were

asymptomatic and 857 (14%) were AIDS cases. As shown in 0%
Dec ember 2010 (M ) Dec ember 2010 (F) 2010 (M al e) 2010 (Femal e)

Figure 6, there is a significant difference in the number of 50 & ol der 6 0 48 4

male and female cases reported. Seventy-eight percent 35-49y o 24 2 252 30

(4,699) were males. Ages ranged from 1-73 years (median 30 25-34y o 78 5 710 55

years). The age groups with the most number of cases were:
15-24y o 59 0 456 33

1-14y o 0 0 1 2

20-24 years (18%), 25-29 (25%) and 30-34 years (19%)

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

2010 1 50 406 454 256 128 81 43 48 2010 2 5 28 21 34 15 9 6 4

2009 1 22 179 227 124 90 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

2
 Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry December 2010

Modes of Transmission (1984-2010)

In 2010, 89% (1,411) were infected through sexual contact, Figure 7. Proportion of Modes of HIV Transmission by Age-Group, 2010
9% (147) through needle sharing among injecting drug 800

users and <1% (3) was mother-to-child transmission; 2% 700

(30) had no reported data on mode of transmission (Table
2). There were 1,310 males and 101 females infected
600

through sexual transmission. Their ages ranged from 16-73

Number of Cases
500

years old. There were 131 males and 16 females who were 400

infected through sharing of unclean needles. Their ages 300

ranged from 15-55 years old (median 27 years) [Figure 7]. 200

Of the 6,015 with HIV from 1984 to 2010, 90% (5,406)

100

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

mother-to-child transmission and 3% (155) through needle

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

sharing among injecting drug users. Other modes of Mat ernal t o Child 3 - - - - - -

transmission are listed in Table 2. No data is available for Inject ing Drug Use - Female - - - 6 6 4 -

6% (380) of the cases. Cumulative data shows 46% (2,485) Inject ing Drug Use - Male - - 10 50 36 32 3

were infected through heterosexual contact, 34% (1,849) Het er osexual Cont act - Female - - - 24 47 26 4

Het er osexual Cont act - Male - - - 33 71 44 22

through homosexual contact, and 20% (1,072) through Bisexual Cont act - - 1 134 251 71 6
bisexual contact. From 2007 there has been a shift in the Homosexual Cont act - - 3 220 343 96 15
predominant trend of sexual transmission from heterosexual *No data available on Modes of Transmission for thirty (30) cases
contact (26%) to males having sex with males (74%)
[Figure 8]. Figure 8. Proportion of Types of Sexual Transmission, Jan 1984—Dec 2010
100%

Table 2. Reported Mode of HIV Transmission 90%

Mode of Transmission Dec 2010 Jan—Dec 2010 Cumulative 80%

n=174 n=1,591 N=6,015 70%

Proportion of Cases

Sexual Contact 168 1,411 5,406 60%

Heterosexual contact 27 (16%) 271 (19%) 2, 485 (46%) 50%

Homosexual contact 84 (51%) 677 (48%) 1,849 (34%) 40%

30%
Bisexual contact 56 (33%) 463 (33%) 1,072 (20%)
20%

Blood/Blood Products 0 0 19 10%

Injecting Drug Use 5 147 155 0%

Needle Prick Injury 3

'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
0 0
Het er os ex ual 1 7 24 24 16 19 35 30 41 47 58 56 81 82 138 114 93 128 129 129 123 131 193 139 160 216 271
Mother-to-Child 0 3 52 B i s ex ual 0 2 0 4 2 2 4 4 5 2 3 8 7 7 9 10 8 5 8 14 12 14 26 74 127 252 463

No Data Available 1 30 380 Homos ex ual 0 1 4 3 4 6 8 15 5 16 20 21 30 25 36 30 17 32 46 40 27 47 81 107 215 336 677

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)

In 2010, there were 174 HIV positive OFWs, comprising 11% of cases reported for the year [Figure 9]. Of these, 146
(84%) were males and 28 (16%) females; all infected through sexual contact.
There were 1,522 HIV positive OFWs since 1984, comprising 25% of all reported cases [Figure 9]. Seventy-five percent
(1,145) were males. Ages ranged from 18 to 69 years (median 36 years). Sexual contact (96%) was the predominant
mode of transmission (Table 3). Eighty-three percent (1,255) were asymptomatic while 18% (267) 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 1500
Mode of Transmission Dec 2010 Jan-Dec 2010 Cumulative 1300
n= 14 n= 174 N=1,522
1100
Sexual Transmission 14 174 1,460
900
Heterosexual contact 4 (29%) 72 (41%) 1,001 (69%)
700
Homosexual contact 4 (29%) 53 (31%) 278 (19%)
500
Bisexual contact 6 (43%) 49 (28%) 181 (12%) 300
Blood/Blood Products 0 0 10 100
Injecting Drug Use 0 0 1 -100
'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 94 130 106 122 164 174

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 99 111 116 179 236 406 671 1417

% 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%

3
 Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry December 2010

Program Related Information

Of the 174 HIV positive cases reported in December 2010, three were classified as AIDS. Seventy five 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 December 2010, 146 blood units were confirmed to Table 4. Results of Blood Units Referred for HIV Confirmation
be positive by the RITM.
Monthly Report 2010
For December 2010, out of the 69 blood units referred for HIV Blood units* Positive Indeterminate
confirmation, 11 units were positive for HIV, and 57 units were referred

negative for HIV, 1 unit had indeterminate result [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
25
May 43 9 0

20 June 80 17 2
Number of Positive Blood Units

July 62 11 1

15 August 46 6 0
September 88 10 2
10 October 88 20 2
November 52 11 0
5
December 69 11 1

Total for the year 772 146 16

0
J an Feb M ar A pr M ay J un Jul A ug Sep Oc t Nov Dec T ot al
* One blood donor can donate more than one blood unit.
2008 10 7 4 8 8 2 9 6 7 7 4 2 74 ** These are HIV positive blood units, not donors. Donors of HIV positive blood units
2009 5 5 10 10 7 5 7 7 9 12 3 9 89 may or may not be in the HIV & AIDS Registry.
2010 9 12 15 15 9 17 11 6 10 20 11 11 146

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.