MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos are seen to contract HIV this year as 38 new infections are being recorded daily, the Department of Health (DOH) said over the weekend.

Data from the HIV/AIDS Registry prepared by the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau shows the number of new infections being reported daily rose to 38 this year from 32 in 2018. In 2014, the DOH was documenting 16 cases every day.

The data showed that in March, there were 1,172 new cases reported, with 215 of them in advance stage or AIDS.

The figure brings the total number of cases this year to 3,434. The total cases since January 1984 has reached 65,463.

Seven of the new cases involved pregnant women.

The National Capital Region and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) accounted for three cases each while one came from Western Visayas.

Of the 1,172 cases, four were below 15 years old, 359 belonged to 15-24 age group and 591 from the 25-34 age bracket.

Parents’ role

Earlier, DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo called on parents to learn how to discuss sexuality and reproductive health with their children to counter the potential risk that they face in the digital world.

Domingo said parents should not shy away or scold their children when they ask about these topics.

Otherwise, they will likely get information from their peers who might be as vulnerable as them, or from the internet which might have information that are unhealthy for them.

Domingo said if parents do not know how to handle these topics, they could consult experts in barangay health centers or even DOH’s health facilities.

Sexual contact

According to the registry, sexual contact remained the most predominant mode of transmitting the HIV virus, accounting for 1,148 of 1,172 new cases.

Among the newly diagnosed, 712 reported transmission through male-to-male sex, 282 were through sex with both males and females, while 154 were through male-to-female sex.

The mode of transmission for 11 cases was through sharing of infected needles while four were mother-to-child transmission.

The region with the most number of new infections is Metro Manila with 348 cases, followed by Calabarzon with 171 and Central Luzon with 140 cases.