Alarm bells are ringing over the rapid spread of HIV infection in the country, especially among men having sex with men.



Facing the House Committee on Health Wednesday, Ferchito Avelino, executive director of the Philippine National AIDS Council, said one Filipino is infected by the virus every 85 minutes.



“The Philippine HIV epidemic is no longer low and slow,” reports quoted Avelino as saying, adding that the spread is now “fast and furious.”



The number of HIV cases in the country grew by a whopping 523 percent from 2008 to 2012, the health official noted.



In July alone, at least 449 cases have been recorded, Avelino said, adding that the actual number of cases may be higher, as not all are reported.



Some 3,338 new HIV cases have meanwhile been reported in 2012, the highest since 1984. More than 14,000 cases of HIV have so far been reported in the country.



Avelino stressed, however, that the epidemic is so far affecting only a subgroup, being “concentrated on men having sex with men and people injecting drugs.”



More than four out of 10 victims who contracted HIV through sexual contact are engaged in male-to-male sex, aged 15 to 34 years old.



























