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ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/18 May) – The City Health Office will ask the youth to involve in the campaign against the Human Immuno Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS).
The idea came after local health officials noticed that a number of the victims of HIV-AIDS in the city are “young people.”
Dr. Kibitiya Uddin, City Health Office’ Reproductive Health and Wellness Center chief on Friday said they classified as young those who are 24 years old and below.
From 1995 to March this year, the City Health Office has recorded 44 HIV-AIDS victims, 36 of whom were males. Eleven of the victims had died.
Uddin said 15 of the 44 victims were “young people” eight of whom were students.
“This is the reason why we are tapping the youth sector to help us in our advocacy,” City Health Officer Dr.
Rodelin Agbulos explained.
Of the 44 victims, 23 of them were Overseas Filipino Workers, 16 coming from Malaysia.
“We are very close to a country that has high registry of HIV-AIDS, which is Malaysia,” Agbulos added.
Uddin said they are set to meet on Saturday with the Sangguniang Kabataan officials to tap their assistance in addressing the problem on HIV-AIDS in their respective barangays.
She added that sex between males is another problem they have to address.
She noted that 30 of the 44 HIV-AIDS victims were males who had experienced having sex with other males. (MindaNews)
