CEBU CITY, Cebu, Dec. 5 (PIA) -- Central Visayas ranks fourth among regions in the country with the highest number of new Human Immunodeficiency Virus - Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) cases.

During a Kapihan sa PIA interview, Department of Health Region 7 (DOH7) HIV Program Coordinator and Medical Officer IV Dr. Van Philip Baton said there are a total of 1,383 new cases diagnosed in October in the country.

Of the total, 114 are from the four provinces of Region 7 and the highly urbanized cities (HUCs).

Central Visayas logged 745 new cases of HIV/AIDS from January to September this year,

Meanwhile, for Central Visayas, there are 745 HIV/AIDS new cases from January to September 2022.

To date, the region has recorded a total of 8,661 cases since 1984.

“HIV is still one of the major programs of DOH to make everyone healthy so that we can get a healthy Filipino population,” said Baton.

He also mentioned that as Filipinos are now living with the Covid-19 virus, it is high time that “we start paying attention to other equally pressing health issues that the country is facing, such as the continued spread of HIV since it was left behind during the onset of Covid.”

This year’s theme, “End HIV, Act for Equality Para sa Isang Healthy Pilipinas” is anchored on the international theme “Equalize.”

“With this, we must maximize our existing governance mechanisms to solicit the support of different sectors and stakeholders, and build collaborative strategies to help in our fight against HIV,” Baton said. (HFG/PIA7)