Filipino Children in the Context of HIV: A Situational Analysis
Along with the growing number of Filipino children and adolescents affected by HIV is the decline in its awareness among them. As a response to this alarming situation, this situational analysis aims to help stakeholders and decision-makers by providing an updated assessment of children in the context of HIV and AIDS. It also presents recommendations based on the good practices, interventions, as well as the commons gaps from the four cities covered in this document: Pasay, Iloilo, Davao, and Zamboanga.
From the key informant interviews and focus group discussions conducted, several points surfaced as the common issues confronted by today’s young people. These issues include: coming from a dysfunctional family; having a history of sexual abuse; poverty; dropping out from school; and the lack of information and knowledge on HIV. In most cases, these issues are not exclusive from the other. A young person may be experiencing more than one of these issues at the same time, or one issue might be the result of another (e.g., dropping out from school due to poverty; experiencing sexual abuse because of a dysfunctional home set-up). These issues leave the young people even more vulnerable and at-risk to HIV when seen through the lens of child protection.
This situational analysis provides evidence that different stakeholders have risen to the challenge of addressing the increasing number of HIV cases in their local city. One such interven- tion is having a proactive local AIDS council (LAC), which consists of representatives from the local government, the health sector, non-government organizations, academic institutions, and faith-based organizations. Another intervention is tapping civil society organizations as partners to seed innovations in public policy and service delivery. There is also a vibrant interagency collaboration within the LGU and its partner organizations. Among all these interventions is the recurring theme of multi-sectoral ownership and participation. This appears to be a key factor in achieving considerable gains in dealing with HIV among children and adolescents.