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By Rael Bustamante and Ronald Bugarin (Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/ShCVvQbQBDk ) The Philippines has yet to reach the plateau when it comes to diagnosis and treatment of Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV). The numbers are still growing and what is more alarming is the fact that there are more younger persons diagnosed with HIV.   According to the April 2019 HIV/AIDS and ART Registry of the Philippines published by the Department of Health - Epidemiology Bureau, HIV infection among the age group of 15 - 24 nearly doubled from 17% in the ten-year period of 2000-2009 as compared to the last ten-year period (2010-2019) at 29%. From these figures, 96% of adolescents diagnosed with HIV were infected via unprotected sexual contact.  Some attribute the increase to the lack of a solid sex education system in our country as well as the conservative view of most Filipinos about sex which stigmatizes the use of contraceptive so much so that the youth of today are disempowered t...

By Carlos Diego A. Rozul The Global Burden of Disease study in 2015 reported an equivalent of 6.3 million cases of Filipinos diagnosed with a depressive and anxiety disorder. For years, the Philippines has advocated to integrate mental health in its healthcare policies. With the enactment of RA 11036 also known as the Philippine Mental Health Law in 2018, Filipinos now have the basic right to psychological wellness. LoveYourself joins the movement towards responding to the mental health needs of Filipinos with Flourish Circle . "There is a palpable call for help and we will respond, and respond with the very best that we have - our passionate volunteers, lessons learned from past programs, and expert partners." explained Chris Lagman, LoveYourself Senior Director. Flourish Circle Peer Support Specialists and Proponents Photo by Dan Guevara Flourish Circle is an initiative started by a community of peers that aim to provide a safe and affirming space where people can feel li...

Jan Gabriel M. Castañeda If you search for “transition” on Google, it actually gives a specific definition for gender transition: to “ adopt permanently the outward or physical characteristics of the gender one identifies with, as opposed to those associated with one's birth sex .” It’s an incomplete definition, of course: it’s not just outward characteristics that change. Neither are they always the most important changes which that assume such changes happen at all: being transgender doesn’t always mean having extreme discomfort with the body you’re born with, as we’ll talk about later. But transitioning, in whatever form it takes, does mean a change that radically alters an individual. Many transgender people, very appropriately, refer to this as a “journey”. While we are talking about transgender people specifically, it’s helpful to note that every person “transitions” at many points in their lives. We transition when we grow up and take on new responsibilities. We transition w...