By Hilda Austria/PNA
DAGUPAN CITY — The city government here will hold a ‘True Color’ party aimed at creating awareness and educating the residents on how to avoid acquiring human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS).
Dagupan City health officer Dr. Ophelia Rivera said some 200 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community were invited to the program, which is in line with the World AIDS Day.
“We specifically invited LGBTs from the 31 barangays of the city since they are the vulnerable sector when it comes to HIV-AIDS. Cases of HIV-AIDS among the third sex are high,” Rivera said in an interview Tuesday.
The program will focus on the lecture on HIV-AIDS with speakers from the Regional Health Office, while there will also be free HIV-AIDS testing; Ms. Q and A contest; hair and make-up contest; and the ‘goddess of the night’ will also be chosen, she said.
In the city, Rivera noted a total of 59 cases of HIV-AIDS have been recorded since 1984 to May 2018, wherein most of the positive cases are males between 25 to 35 years old.
“This is prevalent to those practicing male-to-male intercourse and those with polygamous relations or having more than one sexual partner,” she said.
The rising trend of HIV-AIDS cases can be attributed to the increased awareness of the people or the practice of unprotected sex and lack of precautionary measures before engaging in sexual relations, Rivera said.
“The trend might be because of the increased awareness of people hence, many have themselves tested or it can also be because people are doing unprotected sex among others,” she said.
Rivera admitted that out of the 300 persons who underwent testing through the City Health Office (CHO) here from January to Nov. 26 this year, none was found positive compared to last year when there were positive cases recorded.
“If their test resulted to positive, we ask them to do a confirmatory test in Manila,” she added.
Rivera advised the public to practice abstinence from unprotected sex, be faithful to their partners, use condom during sex, and learn how to prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS.
She also discouraged the use of illegal drugs as the infection may be acquired by injection.
“We urged those who suspect they might be susceptible to the infection to have themselves tested. The CHO offers free-testing and free counseling and we assure them that we maintain privacy and confidentiality,” she said.
Rivera emphasized that HIV-AIDS still has no cure.
