Gay sex fuels HIV rise in Catholic Philippine​s

The headline speaks for itself.

And the article spells it out clearly.

I share this article from Inquirer.net for two reasons:

1. I have long been an AIDS activist, whatever that is, (I mean I have worked with and for the prevention and care...) even before we knew what was causing our friends to die one by one by the dozens.

I saw 50 of my friends die under those circumstances and continued to care for friends with HIV after the virus was discovered.

So, yes of course I am alarmed when I read that the big increase in HIV infections in this country -- ten new persons reported each DAY and nine of them from man-to-man sex. That means man-to-man unprotected sex.

Is anything creative being done to create awareness and willingnes among gay men to enjoy their sex with protection from possible, unknown, HIV?

2. There's the second reason. Enjoying sex. From my youth I was taught "Sex is not for enjoying; it's for making babies."

You don't want to read about my youth or my TMT, my teenage masturbation trauma. Nor about bishops and priests who condemn condoms, yet whose sexcapades we read about in the newspaper.

But this article alludes to the common cause of all these traumas. Perhaps it uses even stronger language than I would to point the finger at the Catholic church prohibition of condoms as a cause for the increase in HIV spread.

We know where to point the finger for other deaths and traumas for the non passage of the RH Bill -- also the catholic church doctrine prohibitions and the congress members' fear of the bishops.

But now it's HIV and AIDS too. Sooner or later we will (will congress ever?) come to realize that Rizal was right, "The friars are the cause of all the problems of the Filipinos." [Of course, the modern-day friars are the medieval-minded catholic hierarchy.]

I consider the advocacy of prayer, inviting people to pray with me, the heart and soul of my ministry. But what good is a happy healthy soul when you have a body and mind unnecessarily crippled by sex-negative theology -- the theology of one religion causing death and trauma to people of all religions and non religions?

"Don't use condoms, even to prevent AIDS," and that is a direct quote from Cardinal Sin. Of course, he and they had a very simple substitute solution -- don't have sex.

As I said this article speaks for itself.


Gay sex fuels HIV rise in Catholic Philippines
By Jason Gutierrez
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
3:07 pm | Thursday, July 26th, 2012

MANILA—Gay sex in a conservative Catholic society where the influential church forbids the use of condoms is fuelling an alarming rise of HIV infections in the Philippines, experts warn.

The Southeast Asian country is facing a HIV epidemic, with sex between men making up nearly 90 percent of all new cases, according to the health department and the United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP).

Ten new infections are being detected every day, three times the rate of just a few years ago, the UNDP said.

Although the total of 9,669 confirmed cases is relatively small in a population of nearly 100 million people, authorities acknowledge many more cases likely remain undetected and point to the concerning upward trend.

The Philippines is one of only seven countries globally where HIV cases have risen by 25 percent or more since 2001, according to the UNDP.

“This is a worrying explosion of HIV cases marked by a shift in the way the virus is transmitted,” Philip Castro, the UNDP’s HIV/AIDS programme officer in the Philippines, told AFP.

He said 87 percent of new infections were attributed to unprotected men-to-men sex (MSM), in a country where condom use overall is one of the lowest in Asia.

“What’s more alarming is that more than 60 percent of (those engaging in) MSM had reported having unsafe sex in their last contact,” Castro said.

Lack of public education about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as well as the shame of living with the disease, also prevent many from acknowledging infections and seeking help, health experts said.

They lay a lot of the blame on the powerful Catholic Church, of which 80 percent of the population are followers, for spreading a conservative message they say has led to a lack of understanding and tolerance about condoms.

“Like modern leprosy”

Unprotected sex remains extremely common in the gay community, according to Humphrey Gorriceta, who contracted HIV after having unprotected sex with multiple male partners.

The 37-year-old former art gallery manager is now campaigning to raise public awareness about the dangers of unsafe sex and help other people infected with HIV.

“I know a lot of people living with HIV that are not allowed to go to school, to attend church services and gain access to certain health services,” he told AFP.

“HIV is like the modern leprosy, except it is hidden.”

Gorriceta said two friends who were diagnosed with HIV committed suicide recently due to depression.

“I helped the police take down one of them from hanging on the ceiling,” he said.

Gorriceta, one of only three men who have publicly come out in public about their disease, said he believed the number of people with HIV was higher than the official tally.

“Not all the people who are supposed to be tested get tested, and many of them are not properly aware of condom use,” said Gorriceta, who is a candidate for a masters degree in public health.

And while nearly all the new HIV cases in the Philippines are being detected among the gay community, prominent safe sex campaigner and columnist Ana Santos warned other sectors of the community were also in danger.

She said there were cases of bisexual men who contracted HIV after having gay sex, then unknowingly transmitted the disease to their girlfriends or wives.

“They were having sex with other men or transgenders and were also having sex with their partners,” she said. “These are things that are not openly talked about so we do not have a complete understanding of this phenomenon.”

“Our society is very conservative, people are not open to talking about sex much less about men having sex with men.”

Santos also said religious edicts had influenced society so that sexually active people often did not buy condoms or contraceptives because of shame.

Condoms ‘beyond reach’ of masses

Condoms are sold in drug stores at about a dollar a piece, but this is beyond the reach of the masses in a country where a third of the population live on less than that amount each day.

And with the church pressuring politicians, a 15-year campaign for parliament to pass a reproductive health bill that would require government to give free condoms to the poor has failed.

The bill would also require that sex education be taught in schools.

Experts point to a long-running education, medical check-up and condom give-away programme that has curbed the spread of HIV among the sex worker community as proof that such methods work.

“Based on our assessment, limiting HIV/AIDS among female sex workers has been a relative success,” UNDP’s Castro said.

The church insists, though, that monogamous partners in responsible relationships is the key to stopping the spread of HIV.

“The reproductive health bill or any law for that matter, would not address rising HIV prevalence,” said Melvin Castro, head of the church’s episcopal commission on family and life.

“Change of attitude and lifestyle will.”


BONUS


QC to offer text counseling for MSM
By Jeannette I. Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:18 pm | Thursday, July 26th, 2012

A counseling service through SMS for MSM who are at risk for HIV.

The Quezon City government will launch next month a mobile phone-based counseling service for persons who are highly vulnerable to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), particularly men having sex with men (MSM).

The TextDUDE campaign is expected to kick off in August with trained counselors, mostly from the local health department, receiving and answering questions sent via text or Short Message Service (SMS).

Texters will receive advice, information or counseling regarding HIV infection which could lead to AIDS or acquired immune deficiency syndrome as well as at-risk behaviors. All information will be treated with confidentiality.

TextDUDE will more specifically cater to individuals with a high risk of exposure to HIV, specifically MSM who are active in dating and social networking websites.

Quezon City was chosen by the Philippine NGO Support Program Inc. and the Philippine National AIDS Council as the pilot site for its TextDUDE campaign as part of the international People Like Us Response Project.

Based on the HIV registry of the Quezon City health department, 226 of the 3,879 HIV cases which were reported between January and December last year were from the city. All of the 226 cases involved MSM.

Further study conducted by the city health department on the reported cases showed that on the average, five out of 100 MSM contracted HIV.

Apart from the TextDUDE initiative, the Quezon City health department has been working on managing and preventing HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases through the establishment of an STD/ HIV/AIDS council, social hygiene clinics as well as a counseling and outreach programs for people who test positive for HIV.

It has also been conducting HIV/AIDS awareness seminars for occupational permit and health certificate applicants in addition to implementing a Peer Education Movement which aims to educate people about these diseases.