Last November 6, when I opened my facebook account, I was surprised to see a tagged picture of my ex-boyfriend with the caption, “You will be missed.” It got me curious, which lead me to opening his profile. There was a flood of messages from his friends, and I searched for answers.

“Tinago nya sa family nya na may nararamdaman na pala syang sakit.”

(He kept his sickness hidden from his family.)

“Severe na pneumonia nya, and nagka-complications na din sa ibang internal organs nya.”

(He had pneumonia, and there were complications to his other internal organs.)

“Na-confine siya October 31. Magka-text pa kami November 3 pero wala syang sinasabi.”

(He was confined October 31. We were texting last November 3, but he didn’t tell me he was in the hospital.)

“I told him to be safe always, and to seek treatment. I don’t get it why it slipped him.”

I cannot make conclusions based on the above mentioned statements. What I have are mere speculations. But being an ex-boyfriend, I’m pretty conclusive that everything that we did sexually was unsafe. That happened four years ago. Who knows, maybe he was unsafe too with his succeeding sexual partners. On my part, I was amiss with my sexual behavior as well that’s why I got HIV.

We met several times early this year. I was on night shift, and I was walking towards the hospital. He saw me, and invited me for tea before my duty. Coincidentally, our workplaces were near each other, which eventually lead to us meeting several times after. The last was March when we had dinner; a celebration as I was supposed to go abroad for work.

I was deeply saddened by his death because he is the reason why I was able to work in Manila. He visited me twice in the province before, and when it was my turn to visit him, he pitched in the idea of me working there. In fact, during that time, there was an opening in a big hospital. Unfortunately, we parted ways several months after I was employed.

Alvin (not his real name) lived a secret life. He has always considered himself simple, yet his family, grand. I have been to his place of residence, which is far from how he described it to me. It didn't matter to me. In the duration of our relationship, I have discovered the lies he made about his family. I didn't mind. If it was his way of coping with stress, crisis, and struggles, it was fine with me for as long as he does not do anything destructive towards me or other people. Most, if not all, of us have secrets, anyway.

But besides all that, he was a great friend. He was a person full of energy, enthusiasm, and ambition. He was full of life. Swear, I haven’t seen him looking sad, crying, or in despair. He was always positive about everything. He was hands-on to his friends as well. He accompanied me when I applied in the hospital. And he did similar things to his other friends too. Like me, he also dreamed of working abroad. He talked fondly of how he wanted to better the lives of his mother and brother.

Alvin is gone now. I may not have the documents to determine the real cause of his death, nor the authority to confirm anything, but one thing is certain, he passed away leaving unanswered questions to everybody. We talked about anything and everything before, but we failed to talk about HIV.

Alvin was a charming, good-looking, young man full of ambition and it’s sad to say that all that he has planned or aimed for were not fulfilled because of his early demise. I can always reason out that we were not aware of the existence of HIV in the country. We did not know that there was a rise in HIV cases back then. Condom-buying is not common, and we have that preconceived idea that all we get when buying one are dagger stares from store attendants and other store patrons. I have never heard of any campaign against HIV back then, or maybe we were just busy with a lot of other things.

One lesson that should be learned from Alvin’s death is that, HIV should be taken seriously. To all people out there, especially the youth, you will just be starting your lives after graduation. Love yourselves, protect yourselves, and fulfill your dreams by preventing the transmission of HIV. Talk about it; make others become aware of it so that safe sexual behavior is practiced. Life with HIV is a struggle, emotionally and physically, so while you are in the know, do your part and help lead others towards the safe direction.

Los Angeles - US porn film producers vowed Wednesday to go to court to challenge a decision by Los Angeles County voters requiring actors in adult movies to wear condoms while performing on set.

The Free Speech Coalition, which describes itself as "the adult product and entertainment industry's trade association," said forcing actors to wear condoms would make porn filmmaking "untenable."

"Besides the obvious excessive costs of compliance, FSC and the industry have a number of concerns with the law itself," it said in a letter following a referendum measure approved by California voters Tuesday.

"We believe that the law is not only unconstitutional on the grounds of forced expression, but also falls within the jurisdiction of the state of California rather than the local government.

"Therefore we will file suit and challenge this intolerable law in court," it said, adding: "The law, as passed, is untenable for adult production."

LA County voters backed the condom initiative Tuesday, after campaigners gathered over 360,000 signatures to force the issue onto the ballot the same day as White House and Congressional elections and over 170-state-wide polls.

The multi-million dollar US adult movie industry, which is largely based in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, has argued that fewer viewers would want to see porn films with actors using condoms.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of five groups which spearheaded the poll push, welcomed Tuesday's poll result, in which 55.9 percent of voters backed the condom-use proposal.

The decision was "a major referendum on the subject of safer sex," the Foundation's president, Michael Weinstein, told the LA Times newspaper.

Last year, California filmmakers were forced to suspend production temporarily, after an actor tested positive for HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, the latest such disruption to the industry.

Film L.A. Inc., which issues permits for film companies shooting in the West Coast city, said about five percent of the 45,500 permit days the agency issues per year are for pornographic film shoots.

Source:

Agence France-Presse 

via interaksyon.com

Newly Diagnosed HIV Cases in the Philippines

In September 2012, there were 316 newly HIV Ab sero-positive individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory (SACCL) and reported to the HIV and AIDS Registry. This was 25% higher compared to the same period last year.

Mos of the cases (96%) were males. The median age was 28 years (age range: 16-70 years). The 20-29 year (57%) age-group had the most number of cases. Fifty four percent (170) of the reported cases were from the National Capital Region.

Reported mode of transmission were sexual contact (312) and needle sharing among injecting drug users (4). Males having sex with other males (82%) were the predominant type of sexual transmission. Most (97%) of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting.

AIDS Cases

Of the 316 HIV positive cases, ten were reported as AIDS cases, all were males. The median age is 24 (age range: 16-49 years). All acquired the infection through sexual contact (6 homosexual, 1 heterosexual, and 3 bisexual). There was no reported death for this month.

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)

Forty-two of the 316 (13%) reported cases were OFWs. There were 38 males and 4 females. The median age was 32 years (age range: 24-61 years). All acquired the infection through sexual contact (17 heterosexual, 13 homosexual, and 12 bisexual).

Geographic Distribution

In September 2012, bulk of the new HIV cases came from NCR, Region 4A, Region 7, Region 3, and Region 11. The three highest reporting regions were NCR, Region 4A, and Region 7.

Source: 

Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry