DOH to Distribute Condoms in School in 2017

DOH to Distribute Condoms in School in 2017

MANILA, Philippines - Starting next year, the Department of Health (DOH) will distribute condoms in schools nationwide as part of the effort to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS among the Filipino youth.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the HIV/AIDS trend in the country should be reversed and the DOH is looking to distribute condoms not only in health facilities, but even in non-traditional outlets like school clinics.

Ubial said the DOH would work with the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement the program on a pilot-test basis.

“The distribution of condoms will start as soon as we have threshed out certain matters with the DepEd,” Ubial said in an interview.

Close Ad X

“But before the distribution, there will be counseling so we can prepare the schools, teachers and the students,” Ubial added.

The DOH’s strategy to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS may become controversial, but Ubial said the government must adopt bolder moves, considering that the profile of HIV/AIDS patients in the country is getting younger.

“The youngest recorded HIV patient in the country is 11 years old,” Ubial said, citing results of recent studies showing that Filipinos are engaging in sex more and at a very young age.

According to Ubial, the DOH is not encouraging the youth to use condom and only distributing it for their protection.

“Distribution of condom is not a bad habit. We are not encouraging the youth to use. It is for safekeeping and should be used only during emergency and for their protection,” Ubial stressed.

Ubial also reported that the DOH is looking into the possibility of giving free pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs to high risk or groups of people vulnerable to the potentially deadly infection.

“We will look into it, but we have to consider logistics before adopting the strategy,” she said.

Aside from condom and pre-exposure drugs, Ubial said the DOH is willing to provide self-testing kit to high-risk groups if ever it becomes available in the country.

“It is not yet available in the Philippines. We hope that it will be registered with the FDA and soon be available to our countrymen,” she said.

However, Ubial said the self-testing kits will be available only in health facilities and partner agencies, but not in drug stores.

“The test kits will not be available in the drug store because we will need counseling before one gets tested so we could avoid possible increase in depression or suicide because they might not know what to do if they find themselves positive,” Ubial said.

Church also sounds alarm

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday expressed concern over the rising cases of HIV among the youth.

In an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Health Care executive secretary Fr. Dan Cancino said they are alarmed over the rise in the number of 15- to 24-year-old Filipinos afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

Cancino said, “A majority of those affected is our youth. The number of cases from 15 years old until 24 years old is increasing. So this is the future of our country because these are mostly our high school and college students.”

He believes that at least two factors contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS – poor dissemination of information and the prevalence of pre-marital sexual activities among the youth.


(c) Philstar