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By Watson Vergara 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. According to the HIV/AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines’ (HARP) January 2017 report , 27% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are among 15 to 22 years old or the youth. This calls for proactivity among the youth to practice   safe sex and to get tested for HIV after three months of possible exposure. Instead of an article about the youth and their sexual health, here is a piece about the youth from the perspective of their parents. But before we dwell into that, let’s talk more about the ...

By Brethren Facts about HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), like what it is and how it is transmitted, are readily available almost everywhere, especially on the internet. Yet there are quite a number of myths around HIV that remain to cloud people's perceptions about it. These are myths you might have read in a web article or in your social media feed. Someone posted on Facebook a few years back about HIV-contaminated bananas . Though I have knowledge about HIV and how it can be transmitted, I still thought of it as quite alarming. Imagine getting HIV from a banana. Seriously? Well, now I have sufficient knowledge regarding HIV, and I am very sure that you cannot acquire HIV from a freaking banana. Below, I listed down a few HIV myths. Are you ready to see them debunked? Okay then, let's get started. 1. You’ve got HIV. RIP! Having HIV is not a death sentence. Though there is no cure yet, there is treatment for HIV, just like how there’s treatment but no cure for hypertension a...

By Carlos Diego A. Rozul 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. This Valentine’s season, there may be a number of people who will feel pressured to find someone to potentially spend a lifetime, or at least a night, with. Some might go on a hugot status blast on their social media accounts, while others might be relatively more proactive and try their luck in dating apps. It seems being in a relationship is so romanticized that people want to rush into it. However, with 26 people being diagnosed as HIV positive every day [ 1 ] , do couples practice timely...

By Reiner “Meow” Grospe 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. “Single”, “In a Relationship” and “It’s Complicated” are some of the usual relationship statuses we hear of. As social individuals, all of us have a relationship status - we’re any of the three just mentioned. Similarly, everyone has an HIV status. HIV status is usually a sensitive issue, kept confidential most of the time. Most people are mum about this topic due to the repercussions it entails - much of it due to stigma. In any case, there are four types HIV status a person may have, namely:...

By: Carlos Diego A. Rozul 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. LoveYourself has started to embark on a great change, adapting a quicker and more efficient way of testing for HIV in its mass testing events - Community Based Screening (CBS).   It was first used in the May 2016 Incognito testing which tested 300 clients, so far the most successful turnout for any LoveYourself mass testing event. The advances in the time required to obtain results with high levels of accuracy have allowed LoveYourself to offer its Incognito event last May 2016 and the u...