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By Kris Tangco Today is World AIDS Day, and LoveYourself joins the global community in its observance by hosting three events: an empowering pageant, an HIV testing day and an HIV awareness campaign with media trailblazer Rappler. World AIDS Day is  designated on the first day of December, and has been commemorated since 1988 to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by HIV infection, as well as to remember those who have died of the disease.   The Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS , known more commonly as UNAIDS , reports that at the end of 2014, 36.9 million people globally were living with HIV, with 2 million new infections in the said year. Also from 2000 until 2014, 25.3 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses, while 15.8 million people have access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as of June 2015.  Philippines: AIDS epidemic in-the-making While the number of infections worldwide has dropped from 3.1 million in 2000 to 2 million in 2014, a 35% de...

LoveYourself Anglo Community Center Opens on June 22 Offers Free HIV Testing and Counselling on Shaw Boulevard LoveYourself, a volunteer advocacy organization is opening LoveYourself Anglo, its second free HIV testing hub located along Shaw B oulevard near the Ortigas central business district. An opening ceremony is set on June 22, 2014. LoveYourself Anglo shall offer free and confidential HIV testing services and counseling specifically targetted for men who have sex with men (MSM) and the youth populace which is considered as the two demographic groups that are most vulnerable to contracting the virus, based on official health data. Designed by award-winning architect Dan Lichauco of Archion Architects, and with a bigger and roomier space and better accessibility in terms of its location, LoveYourself Anglo is looking to build on the success of its pioneering HIV testing clinic, the LoveYourself Hub in Malate which was established in 2012. Ronivin “Vinn” Garcia Pagtakhan, president ...

It was a night of sheer fun as two gay Asian groups united to successfully stage “ Love Forward ,” a benefit event in Chicago aimed at raising funds for the construction of the new LoveYourself Anglo in Mandaluyong. Last July 25 at @mosphere Bar, Filipinos and Friends in Chicago (FINC) and Asians & Friends Chicago (AFC) hosted a Thursday cabaret evening chock-full of performances from homegrown talents like Madame X , "Mahal" playwright Danny Bernardo , musical-theater actor Chip Payos & opera sensation Rodell Rosel . Other local artists who graced the stage with mind-blowing performances include Angel Abcede , Aria's Divina Aleonar , Randy Ballesteros , Christine Bunuan , Jovie Calma , Bagwis , George Infantado , and Karrel Bernardo . The benefit show garnered over $2,700 in cash donations, and more than $500 worth of pledges. LoveYourself would like to thank everyone who made this event possible.  Thank you for believing in our mission to provide free and a...

The self-taught multi-disciplinary visual artist, Jun-Jun Sta. Ana , expresses his support to build LoveYourself Anglo , a project to develop a community center in the metro, by donating five of his art works. This heart-whelming support will be a great help in building the community center sooner.  About Sta. Ana Jun-Jun lives in Chicago but he’s a pure Filipino. He shared his artistry by joining events and conducting exhibitions not just in the Philippines but also in some parts of the world. His latest are a selected group exhibition at BenCab Museum , Baguio City and in Chicago, Illinois. His focus as a visual artist is on Digital Fine Arts, with interests including the exploration of identity and “programmed” perception. Upcoming Solo Exhibit Coming this 1st of August at Nova Gallery (Warehouse 12A La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City) is Jun-Jun’s Autobiography,  a solo exhibition, where he will showcase his collection of 125 photographic prints that de...

Client confidentiality remains at the forefront of the architectural design for the soon-to-rise  LoveYourself Anglo on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong. Renowned architect Dan Lichauco , together with his team at the Archion Achitects , has ensured that those who will undergo HIV screening at the new center will be accorded the privacy due them. As Lichauco puts it, paramount to the clients’ need for counseling and testing is the guarantee that the procedure shall remain confidential. Along with this, he also puts forth that LoveYourself Anglo will stay true in fostering a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone who ventures into its confines. Those requisites for spatial design may be more challenging than usual but not for Lichauco, whose architectural works include major hospital projects like The Medical City , The Asian Hospital and Medical Center , and Ospital ng Makati . “Since we do a lot of healthcare projects, we felt that we could share our learning and experie...

One out of seven countries in the world with a rising number of new HIV infections, the Philippines is in dire need of help. We in Love Yourself, a community-driven group, are determined to address this concern head-on. Everyone in Love Yourself is a volunteer. We do this because we care.  Share and help us make a difference in the lives of thousands of people through your donations!   A COMMUNITY IN NEED. This chart shows the monthly increase of clients at the LoveYourself Hub since the start of 2012. In partnership with RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), LoveYourself has been able to reach thousands of MSMs (men who have sex with men) via the  LoveYourself Hub . Located in Malate Manila, one of the favorite hangouts of MSMs in the metro, the LoveYourself Hub is an RITM satellite clinic and a LoveYourself community center. R iding off this successful partnership, LoveYourself hopes to ramp up its efforts and position itself to better handle the exponential...