He had recurring high fever, dry cough, nightly sweats and oral thrush that lasted for almost a month, and his weight now down to 49 kilos, losing almost 21 kilos in the last 30 days.
Diagnosed with severe pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosis, he found himself in the death bed for almost three months, with lots of blood transfusion, medications, and laboratory exams to sustain him from impending doom.
“Psalm,” as fondly called by his family and friends, is a 31-year-old male who suffered from the “opportunistic infections” that seriously affected his body. He was already in a full blown AIDS and the prognosis for his fast recovery was very slim.
But he never thought that he would die. He believed he will survive.
It was March 2017 when he first experienced the symptoms of HIV and thinking that they were just simple cold and flu, he just ignored them. But they persisted for more than a month.
Two months later, in May, he was already admitted in a regional hospital, hooked with a lot of intravenous infusions to support his body. His liver was inflamed and a very huge lump of abscess grew in his right neck.
For three months he stayed in the hospital even celebrating this 30th birthday in the hospital bed. His greatest wish was to get out of the hospital alive.
His thoughts came rushing in as he remembered his best friend in Palawan who passed away from complications a couple of months ago. He cannot sleep. He felt as if he’s next. But he just prayed.
He woke up in the middle of the night and could hardly sleep again.
Years ago, he graduated from the Practical Nursing and later, Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation.
Instead of working in the hospital or in the ship, he pursued his interest in radio broadcasting for almost 10 years now, working as a disc jockey or radio announcer.
“I also like singing in different events. I’m also a professional host/emcee in different occasions and at the same time an event organizer,” Psalm added.
“I’m always on the go, fun to be with and has a sense of humor at all times friendly,” Psalm said.
Since Psalm took up nursing, he has a better glimpse of HIV and its meaning, “but did not take seriously the information behind it.”
“All I know about HIV is the definition itself or the meaning and how you could acquire it.”
Just like Psalm, there are around 53,192 people living with HIV (PLWHA) in the Philippines as of March 2018.
PHILIPPINES AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD
According to the Global Aids Report 2018, the Philippines is one of the 11 countries with more than 50% incidence rate. With the 11 countries, PH is the highest in terms of having new infection rate. Philippines now has 174 increase since 2010 up to 2017, according to Dr. Louie Ocampo, UNAIDS Country Director based in Manila, Philippines.
“It calls for emergency interventions,” Dr. Ocampo highlighted during an exclusive interview with Palawan Daily News.
“Right now, we are doing a lot of efforts to reverse the trend in partnership with the national government, local government as well as civil society organizations, community based organizations, as well as private sectors in terms of prevention”.
The government has been lagging behind in terms of prevention even if it has pooled funds to curb the increasing number of cases.
“We want actually to focus our interventions on prevention because in the past we are lagging behind in terms of measures on prevention,” Dr. Ocampo added.
PALAWAN HIV POSITIVE CASES
In May 2017, Department of Health recorded 100 HIV positive cases in Palawan alone.
Red Top Center, a facility to manage HIV cases, was built in Ospital ng Palawan (ONP) to cater to free testing, including treatment to patients who are reactive, and is open 24/7 to the public.
As of March this year, there were 912 new HIV positive individuals as reported to the HIV/AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines (HARP), and 2% of which came from Region 4-B (MIMAROPA).
This year, 31 people are being diagnosed with HIV per day compare to only 2 per day in 2009.
CONDOM USE, THE MOST EFFECITVE METHOD STOP THE SPREAD
Use of condoms, according to the 2017 reports have shown that only about 15% of the males having sex with males (MSM) were using condom. And around 27% among transgender women are using condom. And this is one of the red factors of the inclusive transmission.
“And we know for a fact that condom use is the very effective method in halting the transmission,” Dr. Ocampo said.
The UNAIDS country director added that “only about 30% is on treatment and we know for a fact that treatment becomes actually a prevention method as well because the latest studies have shown that if you are undetectable [that means that] the virus is suppressed and [that you cannot transmit the virus].”
TREATMENT SHOULD START AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Once the person has been detected to be positive with HIV, treatment should start immediately and must continue to be on treatment religiously.
“We really need to start the treatment at once upon diagnosis and keep them on treatment. They need to be adherent to become undetectable. And with that, treatment becomes prevention as well.”
Another issue that UNAIDS is trying to address is the low acting in terms of testing.
For the AIDS Registry 2017 report, testing for HIV only accounted to around 17% of those who are estimated with HIV. With that, the government falls short in terms of achieving its goal.
Furthermore, the UNAIDS has formulated the 90-90-90 campaign that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
ACCEPTANCE AND LIVING A GOOD OUTLOOK IN LIFE
Psalm’s first sexual experience was when he was in Grade 5. By that time he was 11 years old.
While Psalm grew older he tried to explore more on his sexuality without thinking of doing it in a safer way.
“I tried sex with opposite sex and with the same sex. But I did not try using condoms,” Psalm said.
“I think, you should be faithful if you have a partner and do not try any risky sexual behaviors.”
And for those who are infected with HIV, he has inspiring words.“It’s not the end of the world; don’t stigmatize yourself. It’s a matter of self-realization and acceptance. It’s because people cannot understand nor accept you if you yourself cannot accept it wholeheartedly.”
“Stop your own stigma and don’t discriminate yourself.”
“I cannot avoid being sad since I grew up in the church and my faith is really strong. But I did not blame God and I don’t even question myself. Things happen for a reason and that’s for me to learn from them.”
“The first thing that comes in my mind when I learned that I was reactive is to accept it, whether it’s hard and complicated it may seemed to be.”
After his hospital admission, Psalm fully recovered after six months. He regained his weight and his immune system is in better shape now.
“What I learned is to have self-control and to know my personal limits, knowing what is right or wrong.”
And for Psalm, after hurdling the battles from his near-death experience, he has great words to the youth out there: “Don’t be so in a hurry to try everything. Enjoy first your teenage life. Be responsible to avoid risky sexual behaviors. Use condoms for your protection. Love yourself more and have yourselves tested as soon as possible. And lastly, if you have a partner, you must stay faithful.”
No more recurring fever, nightly sweats and oral thrush. Psalm now has regained his weight and he’s back in shape. And he resumed his work as radio disc jockey.