Fueling the Philippines' HIV Epidemic : Government Barriers to Condom Use by Men Who Have Sex With Men / Carlos H. Conde

C. Conde

The Philippines has one of the fastest-growing epidemics of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Asia-Pacific region. The number of infections has quadrupled in the past two decades and the risk of the epidemic spreading to the general population is extremely high. Despite the Philippine government?s claims that it is adopting policies to slow the spread of HIV, it is failing to adequately target HIV prevention measures at men who have sex with men (MSM), a key population it needs to reach. The MSM population has seen a 10-fold increase in HIV prevalence rates in the last five years. Fueling the Philippines? HIV Epidemic?based on interviews with people living with HIV, advocates and members of LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS support groups, health workers, caregivers, and public officials?documents the reasons for this failure. A central reason is that, too often, national, provincial, and local laws and policies are based on misconceptions rather than on evidence of what works to prevent HIV transmission. Progress has been impeded in part by continued Catholic Church resistance to sexual health education and condom use. The government has also failed to counteract stigma and discrimination faced by LGBT people? whether living with the virus or not?and widespread public ignorance about HIV/AIDS, condoms, and safe sex. Human Rights Watch calls on the Philippine government to remove legal and policy obstacles to condom access, and remedy the dangerous deficit in public awareness of safer sex and HIV prevention methods through education programs on condom use in public and private schools.