Filipinos are known to be awesome but are not perfect Our country Free Essay Example

Filipinos, are known to be awesome but are not perfect. Our country was colonized by several countries, and many core values from our ancestors were from their influences. Social norms are observed like etiquettes in dressing, eating, relationships and beliefs. Hindu’s have thought us the philosophy of bahala na (come what may) and some superstitious beliefs. Filipinos have the tendency of surrendering their future to fate. Often, we accept bad news or circumstances without trying to stop or change them. This can sometimes be helpful, but it can also keep us from finding ways out of situations.

While, the Spaniards had influenced us the most because they had stayed in our country for a long time during the civil wars, they had thought us the philosophy of Manana habit (doing tasks later while it can be done on the spot), strong faith in God (Catholicism), ningas kugon” (being good at the start and then lose interest or drive eventually making things unfinished), we also got their trait of treating others inferior, it is said that we also got the trait of being lazy from them.

They said that Filipinos learned to be creative and being innovative from the influence of the Japanese. And these values remained intact and are still honored to this day. Families go to church and pray together because their religion is important and creates a strong bond, marking God as the center of their lives and believing that when you don’t follow their teachings you are not worthy of Gods graces and when you die you will go to hell.

Some people tend to find happiness in seeing someone in misery and love feasting on rumors. Some love to play the victim or indulge in self-pity behavior instead of owning their part and be accountable for their actions. HIV is a virus that targets and alters the immune system, making the risk and impact of other infections and diseases to increase. HIV if left without treatment, might progress to an advanced disease stage called AIDS (Adam Felman). HIV is present in certain body fluids such as blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk coming from a person who has HIV. These fluids must come in contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or be directly injected in the bloodstream in order for transmission to occur. The United Nations is committed to ending the epidemics of communicable diseases by 2030 through SDG (UNDP, 2016). The End Stop HIV/AIDS strategy of the World Health Organization aims to end the global epidemic having the following targets: that 90% of the most at-risk population know their status, 90% of confirmed HIV cases have access to Anti-Retroviral Therapy, and 90 % of those undergoing treatment will have viral suppression (WHO, 2018). Around 36.9 million people globally were living with HIV in 2017, and 21.7 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy in 2017. While 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2017. With 940 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017. Since the start of the epidemic 77.3 million people have become infected with HIV, with 35.4 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses. Globally, adolescent girls and young women face gender-based inequalities, exclusion, discrimination, and violence, which put them at increased risk of acquiring HIV. HIV is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age worldwide. In Africa, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents (aged 10″19) in and the second most common cause of death among adolescents globally.HIV and AIDS peaked globally in 1999 and had been declining in many parts of the world. However, HIV cases are rising in the Philippines and doubling to shorten to 2 years from 2007 to 2009, and to only a year from 2009 to 2010 (Philippine National Aids Council). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), The Philippines is one of only seven countries in the world where new cases are rising the others are Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, & Tajikistan. Most HIV infection cases have turned up in major urban areas nationwide, 72 among the 80 provinces in the country, andv17 regions are reporting HIV cases.There is already an existing law in our country called the The Philippine Aids Law RA 8504 since 1998 and yet most of Filipinos are not familiar with, not even those who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of this kind of law are nave of its coverage. RA 8504 it is an act promulgating policies and prescribing measures for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines, it identifies those who are responsible for instituting a nationwide HIV/AIDS information and educational program, it establishes a comprehensive HIV/AIDS monitoring system, it strengthens the function of the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), and other purposes, this law is also known as The Philippine Prevention and Control Act of 1998. This law was created with the following provisions: education and information, safe practices and procedures, testing, screening, and counseling, health and support services, monitoring, confidentiality, discriminatory acts, and policies. All testing centers are required to provide pre- and post-test counseling and only qualified personnel are allowed to provide pre- and post-test counseling. Persons authorized to receive test results are only the person who was tested, a parent or legal guardian of a minor who was tested and the legal guardian of an insane person.As of August 2018, there were 1,047 new HIV antibody seropositive individuals reported to the HIV/AIDS & ART Registry of the Philippines (HARP). Seventeen percent or 176 cases had clinical manifestations of advanced HIV infection or WHO clinical stage 3 or 4 at the time of diagnosis. Ninety-five percent or 998 of the newly diagnosed were males. The median age was 28 years old (age range: 15 – 61 years old). More than half of the cases 537 were 25-34 years old and thirty percent 309 were 15-24 years old at the time of testing. One third or 328 were from the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 4A is with 173 cases, Region 3 with 119, Region 7 with 108, and Region 6 with 58, round off the top five regions with the most number of newly diagnosed cases for the month, together accounting for 75% of the total. The predominant mode of transmission (98%, 1,022) is sexual contact. 87% among this were males who have sex with males. Other modes of transmission (2%, 17 cases) were needle sharing among injecting drug users. There were eight cases that had no data on mode of transmission. During this month two were pregnant among the newly diagnosed females, and both were from the national capital region.In the early years of the epidemic (1984-1990), 62% or 133 of 216 cases of those diagnosed were female. On the contrary, from 1991 to present, males comprised 94% or 54,338 of the 57,965 diagnosed cases in the Philippines. In addition, from January to August 2018, 3% or 205 out of 7,168 diagnosed male cases had classified their self-identity as female. The number of diagnosed HIV infections among females has also been increasing. The number of females diagnosed from January to August 2018, about 411 was almost three times the number of diagnosed cases compared to the same period of 2013 which is 142, five years prior. 93% or 3,471 of all female cases were in the reproductive age group (15-49 years old) at the time of diagnosis. The predominant age group among those diagnosed has shifted from 35-49 years old (2001 to 2005) to 25-34 years old starting from 2006. Further, the proportion of HIV positive cases in the 15-24 year age group nearly tripled in the past ten years, from 13% in 1999-2008 to 29% in 2009-2018. From January 1984 to August 2018, sexual contact among males having sex with males was the predominant at 84% or 45,816 modes of transmission among males, followed by male-female sex 11%, 6,126, and sharing of infected needles 4%, 1,990. More than half 53%, 24,235 of males having sex with males were 25-34 years old at the time of testing, and 31% 13,972 were 15-24 years old. Among diagnosed females, male-female sex was the most common mode of transmission 92%, 3,459 followed by sharing of infected needles 3%, 121. A total of 145 children (less than 10 years old), eight adolescents (10-19 years old), and one adult foreigner (22 years old) were reported to have acquired HIV through mother-to-child transmission. From 1984 to 2006, the predominant mode of transmission was male-female sex. From 2007, the trend shifted to sexual contact among male having sex with males as the predominant mode of transmission and has remained as such to the present. From January 2013 to August 2018, 83% or 38,391 out of the total of 46,509 newly diagnosed cases were among males having sex with males. From 1984 to 2009, transmission through the sharing of infected needles was