[5] The law repealed the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, and made health services for HIV/AIDs more accessible to Filipinos.
[6] The Philippines is a low-HIV-prevalence country, with 0.1 percent of the adult population estimated to be HIV-positive, but the rate of increase in infections is one of the highest.
[7] As of August 2019, the Department of Health (DOH) AIDS Registry in the Philippines reported 69,629 cumulative cases since 1984.
[citation needed] As of June 2018, 28,045 people living with HIV were undergoing anti-retroviral therapy in 80 treatment hubs.
[13] 1 to 3 percent of MSM's were found to be HIV-positive by sentinel surveillance conducted in Cebu and Quezon cities in 2001.
Another at-risk group are injecting drug users (IDUs), 1 percent of whom were found to be HIV-positive in Cebu City in 2005.
A high rate of needle sharing among IDUs in some areas (77 percent in Cebu City) is of concern.
Prostitutes, because of their infrequent condom use, high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other factors, are also considered to be at risk.
The Philippines qualifies as one of the few countries where the growth of AIDS/HIV cases has approximately increased to 25% from in a span of a couple of years from 2001 to 2009.
Young professionals engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse is the main cause for the contraction and it accounts for one third of the AIDS/HIV-infected population.
Recent data show that the surge is not caused by transmission through sexual intercourse but through an increase of people injecting drugs.
[16] There is also high STI prevalence and poor health-seeking behaviors among at-risk groups; gender inequality; weak integration of HIV/AIDS responses in local government activities; shortcomings in prevention campaigns; inadequate social and behavioral research and monitoring; and the persistence of stigma and discrimination, which results in the relative invisibility of PLWHA.
[16] Wary of Thailand's growing epidemic in the late 1980s, the Philippines was quick to recognize its own sociocultural risks and vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS.
Early responses included the 1992 creation of the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), the country's highest HIV/AIDS policymaking body.
Members of the Council represent 17 governmental agencies, including local governments and the two houses of the legislature; seven nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and an association of PLWHA.
The AMTP IV serves as a national road map toward universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support, outlining country-specific targets, opportunities, and obstacles along the way, as well as culturally appropriate strategies to address them.
Antiretroviral treatment is available free of charge, but only 10 percent of HIV-infected women and men were receiving it as of 2006, according to UNAIDS.
With this being said, patients have to go undergo lab examinations depending on their respective cases and receive this treatment throughout their existence.
As of April 20th, 2015, the Department of Health (DOH) mentioned that they plan to buy P180 million worth of ARV or antiretroviral drugs to be used in ART.
It also stipulated increased efforts to improve HIV awareness and to fight discrimination of PLHIVs (HIV-positive people).