Barriers to Change

Barriers to Change: Silence, Stigma & Scarce Information

The Philippines has ambitious goals to beat the crisis...but why is it happening, and what does our sociocultural norms and beliefs have to do with it?

To combat the crisis, the Philippines is aiming for the following targets by 2025:

95% of estimated PLHIV to be AWARE of their status
95% of those aware of their status to be on life-saving Treatments; and
95% of those in treatment to be VIRALLY SUPPRESSED / less likely to transmit the disease

The Philippines status as of end of 2023, according to the Department of Health Epidemiology Bureau: 63-63-36

There’s time to meet these goals before 2025! The first major step to achieving this: TESTING! But testing rates are low in the Philippines for various reasons.

BARRIER 1: SCARCE INFORMATION

According to a survey conducted by the U.P. Population Institute on the Filipino Youth, HIV / AIDS Awareness is at an all-time low!

And surveys also suggest there is not enough material sources of information available to the Filipino Youth

(Left side) Direct quotes from article by Mrakovcic, 2024; https://sites.brown.edu/publichealthjournal/2024/03/21/hiv-in-the-philippines-a-persisting-public-health-crisis-closely-tied-to-social-stigma/
(Right side) Direct quotes from article by Butler, 2024; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-07/philippines-youth-hiv-crisis-stigma-public-health/104057642
Image of Definition from Merriam-Webster (n.d.)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stigma

BARRIER 3: STIGMA

As a conservative and predominantly Catholic country with many under-informed communities, there are persistent negative associations towards sex and sexuality. It may be considered immoral, and HIV / AIDS a ‘’punishment’’ for deviant behavior.

This creates a climate of fear and shame around HIV / AIDS, contributing to:
Lack of open communication, consultation and help-seeking
Isolation from communities due to possible judgment and fears of infection
Low testing rates when PLHIV are afraid of the results and its social consequences
Low testing rates can lead to late diagnosis and (1) more serious health consequences and poor outcomes for patients; and (2) more infections when PLHIV do not know their status and thus do not take proper precautions with their intimate partners

See more:

(Left side) Direct quotes from article by Mrakovcic, 2024; https://sites.brown.edu/publichealthjournal/2024/03/21/hiv-in-the-philippines-a-persisting-public-health-crisis-closely-tied-to-social-stigma/
(Right side) Direct quotes from article by Butler, 2024; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-07/philippines-youth-hiv-crisis-stigma-public-health/104057642
Image of Definition from Merriam-Webster (n.d.)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stigma