SYMPOSIUM on The AIDS Situation In The Philippines: A Critique (from the Holistic Standpoint)

The purpose of the symposium is to stimulate discussions on the nature and extent of the campaign against HIV and AIDS among Filipinos. What have been done and how are we faring so far? What have been the enabling factors and/or the constraints in efforts to scale up responses to HIV and AIDS at the national and local levels? To ensure that the interactions will be manageable, a number of key persons are being invited to represent their organizations’ stand on this issue. Let it be understood that the symposium is not about statistics per se.

AIDS being an affliction that permeates all aspects of human life impinges not only on the 6th UN Millennium Development Goal which is to reverse the onslaught of infectious diseases, but other goals relating to poverty, hunger, education, maternal and child health, gender, environment, and partnerships. A “newly emerging disease” which appeared in the last two decades, it tends to increase and spread to new geographic areas as a result of changing lifestyles and human behavior. HIV also has the potential for developing resistance to currently used antiretroviral drugs. Thus, a holistic approach to the debate is in order. On that note, where do values and quality of life belong in this scenario?

The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS enjoins countries to review and address the problem of HIV and AIDS in all its aspects to secure a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat it in a comprehensive manner. On October 30, 2006 the First Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support in Low Prevalence Countries at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia called upon civil society and NGOs to continue to actively participate in the monitoring and reviewing of the national AIDS response and to feed into sub-national/national/international reporting mechanisms to ensure that commitments made are fulfilled.

Attached are two concept maps representing the environment where HIV and AIDS tend to thrive. Concept map 1 (download illustration) shows how social forces are at the root of Asia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. The economic upheaval of the past two decades has resulted in increased population mobility and environmental degradation that encourages people to move to cities in search of better opportunities. Concept map 2 (download illustration) illustrates how HIV/AIDS is more than a biomedical problem, permeating all facets of people’s lives i.e., socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and governance.

At the end of the day, there remains the need to reckon with the challenges and issues of concern that this environment imposes vis-à-vis the goal of the Fourth AIDS Medium Term Plan 2005-2010 Philippines which is “To prevent the further spread of HIV infection and to reduce the impact of the disease on individuals, families and communities.”