Close to Home
USAID makes HIV testing and treatment more accessible in the Philippines
In the Philippines’ sprawling capital of Metro Manila, 27-year-old Mike* attentively helps his 6-year-old son with homework. As his son’s eyes light up with learning, Mike’s heart brims with hope for the future. Only a few months earlier, hope had seemed out of reach.
It all started with a boil on the back of his head in October of last year.
“I didn’t think it was anything serious; it was my first time having a boil there,” he remembered. “When that healed, I developed some blisters in my mouth.”
Mike had already been tested for HIV prior to the pandemic, but because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, he hadn’t been tested for a while. Knowing that HIV weakens the immune system and concerned about his infections and blisters, Mike reached out to the HIV & AIDS Support House or HASH, a USAID-supported community-based HIV screening provider, to get tested again. His test came back positive.
“I was surprised, not really mad or sad. I was more confused about how I got infected,” Mike said. “I worried how my partner would react and if he would be willing to continue our relationship knowing that I have HIV.”
A USAID-supported community-based screening volunteer assured Mike that, with proper treatment, he could still live a healthy life. A peer also helped Mike get to the health facility where he could more easily access HIV treatment and the required laboratory tests. Within a week, Mike had started a new HIV treatment, TLD, an antiretroviral pill taken once daily that is more effective and has fewer side effects than other HIV treatment regimens that require several pills daily.
Mike also attended a USAID-supported webinar where he could ask questions and learn more about his HIV treatment regimen. After nearly eight months of treatment, Mike now has an undetectable viral load level in his body, which means he can no longer transmit HIV to his partner.
Mike is just one of the nearly 15,000 people USAID and HASH reached in the past year with an HIV testing initiative where community-based volunteers meet clients at a convenient location rather than a health facility. When health facilities closed during COVID-19 lockdowns, HASH volunteers walked, biked, and took public transportation to bring community-based screening directly to clients.
Thanks to USAID’s support, Mike and more than 29,000 Filipinos in the country’s three highest-burden HIV regions continue life-saving HIV treatment. To help clients stay on treatment, stable clients like Mike receive at least three months’ worth of antiretroviral medication. This minimizes frequent trips to health facilities, which can be cumbersome and expensive for many clients.
“As long as I’m taking my meds and living a healthy life, I won’t have any major problems in the future,” Mike said with enthusiasm.
Ultimately, however, he started on the medication for his family. “If I didn’t take the meds as soon as possible and just waited for the signs and symptoms to come out, maybe something would happen to my family. I didn’t want that to happen — especially since I’m the breadwinner.”
Mike’s partner, who tested negative for HIV, has started on pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a highly effective HIV preventive medication.
To date, USAID, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has donated 46,000 bottles of PrEP to the Philippine Department of Health, with another 36,000 arriving in September. USAID also supports the Department of Health in HIV case finding, treatment, and supply chain management.
“Knowing that I have HIV still makes me feel bad, but it’s not depression or the feeling that I’m going to go crazy,” Mike said. “The good thing is that I have my counselor and my boyfriend, who can console and listen to me.”
Despite being HIV positive, Mike is optimistic that, with proper treatment, he and his family can continue to live healthy lives and that — eventually — scientists will find a cure.
*Name has been changed.
About the Author
Christina Butler is a Development Outreach and Communications Writer at USAID’s Mission in the Philippines.
