Our country is facing an unprecedented increase in the rate of transmission of HIV

among its citizenry.

With this in regard, the affirmative side stands with the DOH in proposing that R.A.
No. 8504 be amended to implement mandatory HIV screening among High-Risk
Individuals.
For the discussion of this proposition, the necessity, beneficiality, and feasibility
shall be presented by myself, by Jared, and by Janro respectively.
Before I speak of the necessity of this measure, let us first limit the parameters of
this debate. Our proposition only targets to mandatorily screen high-risk individuals
and not the general populace. We define High-Risk individuals as those who are
engaged in humanitarian work in HIV hotspots, health care professionals who are
directly involved in patient care, and patients who undergo procedures that may
compromise their immune response
Now to my argument, I shall be covering 3 main points:
First, public safety.
Second, State intervention.
Third, the necessary amendments to R.A. No. 8504.
To my first point, the facts speak blatantly of our situation. Joint studies conducted
by the UN, WHO, and the DOH reveal that the Philippines ranks 7 th among the 9
countries that have a continuously increasing number of HIV cases. The prevalence
rate of HIV is still very low. However, we are focused on the morbidity rate or the
rate of increase of HIV, having jumped up to 800% in just 10 years. According to
health authorities, this rate is comparable with that of HIV hotspot countries where
HIV transmission has gone out of control. Our situation is dire, and our public safety
must never be allowed to be compromised. We reiterate that prevention is better
than cure.

This brings us to our second point, wherein under Article 2, Section 15 of the
Constitution, the State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people.
Further, we only limit mandatory screening to High-Risk individuals and we point out
that the right to privacy is not without limitations, especially where public safety is
concerned.

Finally to our third point, the amendment aims to target High-Risk individuals to
address any possible avenue where HIV may spread further unchecked. At present,
HIV transmission is mostly from sexual activities and illicit drug use. These are

activities which the government cannot put an iron grip upon; however, we move to
strengthen the implementation of encouraging persons involved in these activities
to seek HIV screening and thus undergo treatment protocols offered by the
government. These persons, however, are not our main concern in this argument.
Let us go back to the High-Risk individuals, of whom the government may exercise
control and have a realistic outcome.
In the chain of infection, we have an element that we call Susceptible Host. The
high-risk individuals are the susceptible host. This element, when addressed, can
break the chain of infection and thus control transmission of diseases. Hence, the
amendment is necessary in order to break this chain of infection and close a
potential source of the spread of HIV AIDS by screening the high-risk individuals and
managing those who test positive early on. In HIV hotspots, HIV spreads not only
through sexual contact and needle sharing, but also through infected healthcare
providers and alarmingly, in the healthcare setting among immunocompromised
patients.
This is a situation which we seek to pre-empt by introducing the amendments. By
mandatorily screening High-risk individuals, we will be able to mobilize treatment
milieu, counseling measures, and the fullest assistance we can offer in order to help
these persons who test positive to live life as fully as they can and at the same
time, prevent cross-transmission of HIV in the health care setting.