DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH OCTOBER 2010

NATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY CENTER

Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In October 2010, there were 104 new HIV Ab Table 1. Quick Facts
sero-positive individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Demographic Data October Jan-Oct Cumulative Data:
2010 2010 1984—2010
Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) and Total Reported Cases 5,729
Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry

104 1,305
reported to the HIV and AIDS Registry (Table 1). Asymptomatic Cases 4,877
104 1,290
This was a 30% increase compared to the same
AIDS Cases 0 15 852
period last year (n=80 in 2009) [Figure 1]. Males 4,429*
97 1,197
Females 7 108 1,289*
Most of the cases (93%) were males. The median
Youth 15-24yo 27 399 1,123
age was 28 years (age range:19-61 years). The
20-29 year (57%) age-group had the most number Children <15yo 0 3 55
of cases. Forty four percent (46) of the reported Reported Deaths due to AIDS 0 2 323
cases were from the 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)
(100). Four did not report mode of transmission 175
[Table 2, page 2]. Males having sex with other Males 150

Number of New Cases

(78%) were the predominant type of sexual 125

transmission [Figure 2]. All of the cases were still

100
75
asymptomatic at the time of reporting [Figure 3]. 50
25

AIDS Cases 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

There were no reported AIDS and deaths for this 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
month. 2010 143 130 120 154 153 109 131 108 153 104

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Figure 2. Comparison of the Proportion of Types of Sexual
Transmission in 2010, 2009 & Cumulative Data (1984-2010)
Twenty of the 104 (19%) reported cases were OFWs 100% Het erosexual
[Figure 9, page 3]. Most (75%) of the cases were 90% 22 Bisexual
24
males. The median age was 32 years (age range: 80%
2438
Homosexual
Proportion of Cases

21-61 years). All cases acquired the HIV infection 70%

27
60%
through sexual contact (11 heterosexual, 4 50% 25
homosexual, and 5 bisexual). 40% 980
30%
51
20%
28 1709
10%

0%
O ct 2 0 10 O ct 2 0 0 9 C umulat ive

Figure 3. Number of HIV/AIDS Cases Reported in the Philippines by Year, Jan 1984 to October 2010 (N=5,729)
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

T OT A L 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 1305

A s y mpt omat i c 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 1290

A I DS 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

Deat h 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 October 2010

AIDS Cases (1984-2010) Fig 4. Proportion of Modes of Transmission of AIDS Cases by Year,
Jan 1984—October 2010
Of the 1,305 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

common 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 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 B i s ex ual Cont ac t 60 4 8 2

injuries (2) [Figure 4]. Three percent (28) of the AIDS cases Homos ex ual Cont ac t 234 10 14 11

Het er os ex ual Cont ac t 433 7 6 2

did 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 1,305 cases reported. Ninety Figure 5. Proportion of Sex & Age-Groups in Oct 2010 & Jan-Oct 2010
two percent of the cases reported were males (1,197). Ages 100%

ranged from 1-73 years old (median 28 years). The 20-29

year old age group (56%) had the most number of cases for 75%

2010. For the male age group, the most number of cases
were found among the 20-24 years old (27%), 25-29 years 50%

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

From 1984 to 2010, there were 5,729 HIV Ab sero-positive 25%

cases reported (Table 1), of which 4,877 (85%) were

asymptomatic and 852 (15%) were AIDS cases. As shown in 0%
Oc t ober 2010 (M ) Oc t ober 2010 (F) 2010 (M al e) 2010 (Femal e)

Figure 6, there is a significant difference in the number of 50 & ol der 3 0 37 4

male and female cases reported. Seventy-seven percent 35-49y o 17 1 214 23

(4,429) were males. Ages ranged from 1-73 years (median 30 25-34y o 50 6 577 48

years). The age groups with the most number of cases were:
15-24y o 27 1 368 31

1-14y o 0 0 1 2

20-24 years (18%), 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 35-39y 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 42 326 361 216 105 75 34 37 2010 2 5 26 19 29 10 7 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 October 2010

Modes of Transmission (1984-2010)

In 2010, 87% (1,132) were infected through sexual contact, Figure 7. Proportion of Modes of HIV Transmission by Age-Group, 2010
11% (141) through needle sharing among injecting drug 700

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

(29) had no reported data on mode of transmission (Table 600

2). There were 1,047 males and 85 females infected through 500

sexual transmission. Their ages ranged from 16-73 years

old. There were 125 males and 16 females who were

Number of Cases
400

infected through sharing of unclean needles. Their ages 300

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

200

Of the 5,729 with HIV from 1984 to 2010, 89% (5,127) were 100

infected through sexual contact, 1% (52) through mother-to

-child transmission and 3% (149) through needle sharing
0
<6yo 7-14yo 15-17yo 18-24yo 25-34yo 35-49yo 50&older

among injecting drug users. Other modes of transmission Maternal to Child 3 - - - - - -

are listed in Table 2. No data is available for 7% (379) of the Injecting Drug Use - Female - - - 6 6 4 -

cases. Cumulative data shows 48% (2,438) were infected Injecting Drug Use - Male - - 8 47 35 32 3
- - - 22 40 19 4
through heterosexual contact, 33% (1,709) through Heterosexual Contact - Female
- - - 24 63 34 18
Heterosexual Contact - Male
homosexual contact, and 19% (980) through bisexual Bisexual Contact - - 1 105 201 60 4
contact. From 2007 there has been a shift in the Homosexual Contact - - 3 175 269 80 10
predominant trend of sexual transmission from heterosexual *No data available on Modes of Transmission for twenty nine (29) cases
contact (27%) to males having sex with males (73%)
[Figure 8]. Figure 8. Proportion of Types of Sexual Transmission, Jan 1984—Oct 2010
100%

Table 2. Reported Mode of HIV Transmission 90%

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

n=104 n=1,305 N=5,729 70%

Sexual Contact 100 1,132 5,127 60%

Heterosexual contact 22 (22%) 224 (20%) 2, 438 (48%) 50%

Homosexual contact 51 (51%) 537 (47%) 1,709(33%) 40%

30%
Bisexual contact 27 (27%) 371 (33%) 980 (19%)
20%

Blood/Blood Products 0 0 19
10%

Injecting Drug Use 0 141 149 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 os ex ual 1 7 24 24 16 19 35 30 41 47 58 56 81 82 138 114 93 128 129 129 123 131 193 139 160 216 224

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 74 127 252 371

No Data Available 4 29 379 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 81 107 215 336 537

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)

In 2010, there were 152 HIV positive OFWs, comprising 12% of cases reported for the year [Figure 9]. Of these, 127
(84%) were males and 25 (16%) females; all infected through sexual contact.
There were 1,501 HIV positive OFWs since 1984, comprising 26% of all reported cases [Figure 9]. Seventy-five percent
(1,127) 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 (1,235) 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 Oct 2010 Jan-Oct 2010 Cumulative
n= 20 n= 152 N=1,501 1000

Sexual Transmission 20 152 1,439

Number of Cases

800

Heterosexual contact 11 (55%) 64 (42%) 994 (69%) 600

Homosexual contact 4 (20%) 47 (31%) 272 (19%)
400
Bisexual contact 5 (25%) 41 (27%) 173 (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 94 130 106 123 164 152

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 1152

% 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% 12%

*Data includes January to October 2010 only. 3

 Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry October 2010

Program Related Information

Of the 104 HIV positive cases reported in October 2010, none was classified as AIDS. Sixty-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 October 2010, 124 blood units were confirmed to be Table 4. Results of Blood Units Referred for HIV Confirmation
positive by the RITM.
Monthly Report 2010
For October 2010, out of the 88 blood units referred for HIV confir- Blood units* Positive Indeterminate
mation, 20 units were positive for HIV, and 30 units were negative referred

for HIV, 2 units 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
July 62 11 1

15 August 46 6 0
September 40 10 0
10 October 88 20 2
November - - -
5
December - - -
Total for the year
651 124 15
0
J an Feb M ar A pr M ay J un J ul A ug Sep Oc t Nov Dec T ot al
(Jan –October 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 20 124 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.