HEALTHY RELATIONS US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson (middle, left) hands over Point-of-Car HIV Viral Load Cartridges to Dr. Louisito Chua, Manila Councilor for Health, on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. Also present during the ceremony were Sen. Ana Theresia ‘Risa’ Hontiveros, Michelle Lang-Alli, Ma. Carolina Vidal-Taino, Barangay 435 chairman Linensky Bacud, and other officials and representatives of the US government and the Department of Health. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN
BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
MANILA (December 2)—The United States government donated HIV viral load testing cartridges valued at P85 million ($1.5 million) in a turnover ceremony hosted by the Manila City government on December 1, also to commemorate World AIDS Day.
According to the US Embassy in the Philippines, the donation, which was turned over by US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson, was to strengthen the Philippine government’s HIV treatment program.
Carlson said these laboratory tests are further proof that the US government is committed to working alongside the Department of Health (DoH), the community of Filipinos living with HIV and local governments like Manila to ensure that people living with HIV in the country have equitable access to a viral load test.
“With this donation, we aim to amplify the hopeful message of U equals U: That undetectable is indeed untransmittable,” she added.
The ambassador said the donation was secured through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAaid).
Present at the event were Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, Manila Councilor for Health Dr. Louisito Chua, DoH Undersecretary Carolina Vidal-Taiño and members of the people living with HIV (PLHIV) community.
The embassy said these cartridges will be distributed to HIV treatment hubs and facilities across the Philippines and are expected to cover the country’s viral load testing requirements for all patients undergoing HIV treatment for one year.
DoH Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said this donation of more than 86,000 viral load cartridges from the US government will be pivotal to the country’s HIV treatment program.
On behalf of the PLHIV community, Elena Felix, Network Plus co-convenor, said they are filled with so much hope that “we will no longer have to lose our loved ones to HIV and that we will be able to carry on with our lives, free from worry and stigma.”
The US government has provided more than P1 billion ($18.2 million) to the Philippine government through Pepfar to support HIV prevention, case finding and treatment interventions since December 2020.
The embassy said this includes a donation of more than 81,000 bottles of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, an HIV-preventive drug that is being distributed by the DoH in more than 50 facilities across Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
It also said this donation, valued at P31.3 million ($552,996), was turned over to the Philippine government in June 2021.
These recent donations, according to the US Embassy, signify the US government’s commitment to support the Philippines in addressing supply chain bottlenecks in the procurement of critical commodities in HIV detection and treatment and in achieving the country’s goal to end AIDS by 2030 through evidence-based strategies.
