Enhanced Awareness and Control Program for HIV

It all started in May 2018 when Dr Gruet invited me to attend the AMPC Seminar Workshop on Setting Up HIV Programs for Medical Schools.  The model unit was that of UP PGH system where the UP College of Medicine, their base hospital Philippine General Hospital and the SAGIP HIV treatment hub were all in one geographic location. However, the set up is not the same in Cebu.

In Cebu, there are six (6) medical schools, namely Cebu Doctors' University College of Medicine, Cebu Institute of Medicine, Matias H. Aznar Memorial College of Medicine, Southwestern University-PHINMA College of Medicine, UV Gullas College of Medicine and University of Cebu School of Medicine. We may even expand our reach to the Silliman University Medical School in Dumaguete. The base hospitals are also located separately, and the main HIV treatment hub in the Visayas is located in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Looking at our strengths, we have highly motivated HIV advocates and a well-connected group of social hygiene clinics.  Hence, our strategy to have all medical students tested for HIV was to conduct a caravan of HIV fora for awareness raising coupled with free HIV counselling and testing. Learning from my experiences with #HealthXPH in engaging stakeholders thru social media, we formed a facebook chat group where one by one passionate faculty HIV coordinators and dynamic student leaders representing each medical school started expressing their ideas and giving suggestions. We all committed to organizing HIV fora for medical students in our respective schools.

The Cebu Doctors' University College of Medicine, led by Accentuating Lives thru Service and Advocacy (ALSA) conducted a highly successful HIV Forum with the theme #TOUCHMOVE "Think Before You Play" where more than 169 medical students underwent HIV counselling and testing. Other scheduled HIV fora include September 21 and 28 for SWU PHINMA, October 13 for CIM, October 20 for MHAM and October 27 for UCMED. We hope that by targetting our medical students, we address misconceptions by improving HIV knowledge and reducing stigna and discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV). These soon-to-be doctors will be our frontliners in testing, managing and supporting our PLHIV.

HIV counselling and testing is the gateway to prevention, treatment, care and support. Knowing your status is your responsibility to taking care of your own health. An HIV diagnosis is not a death sentence. HIV should not be a barrier to reaching your dreams of becoming a doctor.  So long as the viral load is undetectable, then the virus becomes untransmissible. The risk is not knowing.