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The volunteer duo believes the fear of HIV testing is best banished with an uplifting counseling experience, so they set out to create a better process for LoveYourself’s flagship testing event. By Michael Jamias Two years ago, when Dalton Claudio found out the guy he was dating was cheating on him, he did not seek revenge. Instead, he sought out the nearest HIV testing center he could trust in Manila. “I found out about LoveYourself Platinum . That time, I was so scared of the result,” the 26-year-old IT consultant confesses, referring to the by-appointment and confidential HIV testing service provided by the non-profit organization LoveYourself. Afraid that he had been infected with HIV and hurt by his partner’s betrayal, Dalton hesitantly stepped into a room where volunteer LoveYourself counselor Manuel greeted him with a smile. Dalton remembers the counseling conversation fondly. Manuel not only dispelled Dalton’s misconceptions surrounding HIV (no, it cannot be transmitted mer

by Giuseppe Everyone has talked about a particular status in his or her life, be it their relationship status, their financial status, and heck, people talk about their problems on their Facebook status all the time! But one thing that’s rarely talked about is one’s HIV status. Despite its relevance today, it is still greatly stigmatized and has been thought of as taboo by many. This monthly column aims to help facilitate discussion on issues surrounding HIV testing and living with HIV. Most people start the year by making New Year’s resolutions. With all the festivities now over and the last bottle in your display cabinet empty, are you now ready to come up with your to-do and not-to-do lists for 2017? Perhaps taking an HIV test can be included in our New Year's resolutions. You’re probably asking, “Why should I get tested for HIV, anyway?” There are many things to look out for. One of the essential questions is, "Am I sexually active?” If your answer is “yes,” then you shoul

By Kris Tangco Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are one of the groups vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS crisis the Philippines is facing. Addressing the plight of OFWs by highlighting and bringing awareness to their struggles, HIV awareness and advocacy group LoveYourself, in partnership with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) will be staging Care Divas , a play about the lives of five transgender OFWs. Background on OFWs The Filipino diaspora has brought an estimated total of 10.4 million ethnic Filipinos to seek opportunities abroad, roughly 2.3 million of which are OFWs [ 1 ] . As of 2015, OFW remittances sent home by Filipinos abroad amounted to almost 30 billion US Dollars [ 2 ] , representing around more than 10% of the national economy. The Philippines is one of the world’s largest suppliers of human labor - in fact, the country is a pioneer in organized labor migration [ 3 ] . Deployment of Filipinos abroad started during the Martial Law years when legislation forma

APCOM has been engaged in responding to the urgent needs of MSM in Asia and the Pacific at both a policy and programmatic level. At a multi-stakeholder consultation on “Ending AIDS in Asia- Re-strategizing the MSM response” held 21-22 January 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, UNAIDS RST-AP was tasked to coordinate a regional ‘Call to Action’. As a result, UNAIDS, UNDP and APCOM collaborated on a special MSM feature in the HIV in Asia Pacific: UNAIDS Report 2013 calling on partners to better “focus, invest, empower and mobilize” to provide innovative, tailored programming and effective responses to at- risk communities. To ensure sustained action in response to the ‘Call to Action’, In 2013 APCOM received seed funding from UNAIDS and further assistance for Population Services International (PSI) Thailand to implement a pilot project for Regional City-Based HIV Testing Campaign: TestXXX, called TestBKK. APCOM would also like to roll this out to other cities in the region such as Ho Chi Minh Ci

By Carlos Diego A. Rozul and Christian Watson Vergara LoveYourself Inc., in partnership with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), will host the 3:00 p.m. show of the 2011 hit comedy musical Care Divas on February 5, 2017, Sunday, at the PETA Theater Center in New Manila, Quezon City to raise fun ds for LoveYourself’s continued services and projects. The multi-awarded musical tells the tale of five transgender Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Israel who work as caregivers by day and fierce drag performers by night. The story goes beyond the struggles of our fellow Filipinos abroad as it tackles the search for acceptance in a faraway country. Care Divas bagged seven trophies from the 2011 Gawad Buhay! Awards , including Outstanding Musical Production, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Outstanding Male Lead in a Musical, Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Original Libretto, Outstanding Stage Direction, and Outstanding Choreography for a Play or Musical. Th