Passage of the proposed reproductive health bill could lower prevalence of sexually-transmitted illnesses in the country including HIV/AIDS, an officer of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS said Thursday.

Teresita Marie Bagasao, UNAIDS country coordinator for the Philippines, said a nationwide information campaign on reproductive health, as well as wider use of condoms, would have an impact on the spread of sexually-transmitted illnesses (STIs) in the Philippines.

"The mode of transmission [of HIV/AIDS] in the Philippines is mostly sexual, so apart from information dissemination, we need to equip people and give them enough services to prevent them from contracting HIV and other sexually-transmitted illnesses. One of the methods to prevent STIs is by wearing a condom. We have to give people wider access to information and services," said Bagasao at the sidelines of the 9th Philippine National Convention on AIDS in Quezon City.

Bagasao said that while a majority of reported HIV/AIDS cases in the country are migrant workers, it is actually the youth sector that is most at risk from the disease because of low awareness of the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

"The epidemic is changing. There is a big shift toward the younger generation who are more sexually active but are unaware of the disease," she said.

AIDS prevalence

She also said that actual number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country could be higher than what is reported since the government's HIV and AIDS Registry only records all confirmed HIV positive cases referred by hospitals, clinics and laboratories.

According to the Department of Health National Epidemiology Center, a total of 2,965 HIV antibody seropositive cases had been recorded in the Philippines as of September 2007. Of that number, 45 percent have died due to AIDS related complications. Fifty-eight percent of the cases were male in the 25-39 age range.

As of September 2007, 35 percent of the recorded cases were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Seventy-four percent were male, majority of whom were between 25-39. The DOH, however, said as much as 7,490 adults in the country could be HIV positive using a workbook method prescribed by UNAIDS/World Health Organization for countries with low level and concentrated epidemics.

HIV/AIDS prevalence in the Philippines is characterized as low level because HIV infection has not spread to significant levels in any sub-population, recorded infection is largely confined to individuals with higher risk behavior such as sex workers, networks of risk are rather diffuse, and HIV prevalence has not consistently exceeded five percent in any defined sub-population.