QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — Almost 1,000 new HIV/AIDS cases — or 968 cases to be exact — were reported last March, the highest figure in the country since 1984, the Department of Health said.
The DOH said majority of cases were transmitted through sexual contact, while 22 were related to needle sharing among injecting drug users. Four cases were mother-to-child transmission.
Among the HIV/AIDS patients, the highest percentage, 87 percent, are males with male partners.
There were 108 full-blown AIDS cases recorded.
Metro Manila topped the list with most cases of HIV, with 309 (32 percent); followed by Calabarzon with 135 (14 percent); Central Luzon with 107 (11 percent); Central Visayas with 76 (8 percent); and Davao Region, with 52 sufferers (5 percent). The rest, 289 cases, are in different parts of the country.
The DOH already reported 2,661 cases of HIV and 155 deaths during the first quarter of the year.