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The latest report of the National Epidemiology Center revealed that there were 268 new HIV Ab Sero-positive  individuals confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory. This is a 54 percent increase compared from the same month in 2010. With this additional data from December, the total number of cases for 2011 reached 2,349.

Out of the 268 cases, nine were reported to be AIDS cases (seven males and two females). All of the cases were acquired through sexual contact. A death due to AIDS was also reported for this month.

Aside from the information above, here are some of the highlights of the report:

• 94 percent of cases were males
• The age range was 16 to 59 years and the 20 to 29 year group had the most number of cases
• 128 of the cases came from Metro Manila
• The reported modes of transmission were sexual contact (238) and needle sharing among  injecting drug  users (30)
• 8 percent of the cases were OFWs

For the full report, download it here.

        

According to the latest report of the National Epidemiology Center, 212 new HIV Ab sero-positive individuals were confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory for the month of November. The figure is 89 percent higher from the same period last year.

Of the 212 cases, three were reported to be AIDS cases. These were two males and a female. All acquired the infection through sexual contact (1 heterosexual and 2 homosexual). There was also reported death from AIDS for the month, a 26 year old female.

Based on the November 2011 report, here are the other observations:

• 94 percent of the cases were males
• The age range was between 17 to 73 years and the media age was 28 years
• 124 cases or 58 percent of it were from the National Capital Region
• The reported mode of transmission was all sexual contact with males having sex with other males as the most predominant at 85 percent
• 99 percent of the cases were still asymptomatic at the time of reporting
• 12 percent (25) of the 212 were OFWs

        

The October 2011 report of the Department of Health’s National Epidemiology Center revealed that 200 new HIV Ab sero-positive individuals were confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory. The number is 92 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Out of the 200 HIV cases, only one was reported to be an AIDS case.  There were also no reported deaths.

Aside from these , here are some of the observations made for October:

• 97 percent of the reported cases were males
• The 20-29 age group had the most number of cases
• 108 or 54 percent of the reported cases were from the National Capital Region
• Reported modes of transmissions were sexual contact (183) and needle sharing among injecting drug users (17)
• The predominant type of sexual transmission was males having sex with males
• 21 of the 200 reported cases were OFWs (19 males and 2 females)

        

Talinhaga Theatre Collaborative Presents

Pulses | A Play Inspired by People Living with HIV

In celebration of World AIDS DAY 2011
For the benefit of Take The Test

Directed by Pat Valera & Katte Sabate
Written by Ino Habana & Iscariot

6:00pm – 8:30pm
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Library, Maria Orosa St., Malate, Manila

For ticket inquiries, contact Adrian 09178125711

        

IASSCS-FORD FOUNDATION SEXUALITIES RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM

Introduction

IASSCS seeks to strengthen the field of social and cultural research on sexuality globally, including the development of research capacity, giving priority to the crucial need for diversity in this field of inquiry. Its mission is informed by the principles of social justice and human rights, with a focus on sexual rights and gender equality, as expressed in documents such as the Cairo Programme of Action, CEDAW and the UNGASS Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

IASSCS is pleased to announce a small research grants competition for researchers, with the objective to promote research capacity development and research dissemination during 2012. This new initiative is in line with IASSCS’ mission to strengthen research and research capacity globally in socio-cultural dimensions of sexuality, with special attention to countries where sexuality research is not well-developed. With financial support from the Ford Foundation, this initiative represents an important opportunity to strengthen IASSCS’ role and presence as an international research capacity-building institution.

The IASSCS Research Grant Program

A total of 10 small grants will be offered to early career researchers in each of the five regions constituting the Association (two per region, see regions below). These grants are intended to develop research in, or related to, the Global South and to encourage diverse methodological approaches to understanding sexuality. The newly formed IASSCS Research Development and Training Committee will oversee the program

For the purposes of this program, early career researchers refers to graduate students within academic institutions, or to individuals based within organisations that have existing research capacity. Each applicants is required to demonstrate that her/his submitted proposal will either result in the completion of a Ph.D. degree, a peer-reviewed journal publication, or (for non-academically based applicants) is likely to contribute to strengthening sexuality research capacity in the host institution.

This research grants program will:

Assist early career researchers in the:
Completion of a graduate degree, the subject of which focuses on sexuality-related issues, or
Undertaking of research that contributes to the strengthening of research capacity within their organisation
Support and encourage early career researchers to share their research results, and broaden knowledge on sexuality issues at an international level.
Support the development of social and cultural approaches to sexuality research in the five regions constituting the Association, prioritizing the Global South
Promote the development of diverse methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding sexuality.

Expected outcomes:

All grant recipients will be expected to present their research findings at either the 2013 or 2015 IASSCS conference. In preparation for submission of the research abstract to the conference program committee, the IASSCS Conference Abstract Mentoring Program will provide feedback on the draft abstract. IASSCS will also give each grantee a registration fee waiver for the chosen IASSCS Conference if their abstract has been submitted on time and has been accepted by the Conference Program Committee. Further, a maximum of USD500 of the grant money can be used towards conference attendance costs.

IASSCS regions are:

Southeast Asia, South and Central Asia and the Middle East
Latin America
Africa
North America and Europe
Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and East Asia

IASSCS especially encourages the submission of applications by participants of the previous Post-Conference Training sessions (Madrid 2011, Hanoi 2009, Lima 2007).

Successful applicants will receive:

Minimum of USD 3,000 to maximum-5,000 USD;
Mentoring from experienced researchers in the sexuality field as part of the IASSCS Conference Abstract Mentoring Program ;
Venue for dissemination and/or publication of research results at the next IASSCS conferences in 2013 and 2015 (according to each research grant program period).

Application Requirements

IASSCS Research Grant Program welcomes proposals from early career researchers whose research focuses on social and cultural research on sexuality, with a particular emphasis on the global south;
Applicants are expected either to be affiliated with a university and progressing toward a Ph.D. degree or to be based within an organisation that has existing research capacity.
IASSCS will fund research proposals representing new work, or ongoing research projects; however, IASSCS will only fund ongoing research that is at a very early stage of its fieldwork, e.g. beginning to recruit research participants, or starting field observations, or beginning document or text collection for literature reviews.

The IASSCS-Ford Foundation Research Grant will have duration of nine (09) months. IASSCS will only award grants to sole investigators; proposals from co-investigators are not eligible. Funds awarded may be used to cover expenses relating to: fieldwork travel; enacting research plans; analysis and communication/dissemination. Scholarship funds cannot be used for the purchase of equipment, institutional overheads or any other expenses not directly related to conduct the research.

Application Process

Application documents must be written in English only. To apply to the IASSCS-Ford Foundation Research Grant Program, please send by e-mail the following documents:

1. A brief research proposal (no less than 4 pages and no more than 10 pages) including:

Research subject (topic or title)
The research question (please clearly answer the question: what are or will you be researching?)
Proposed research methodology (clearly define if you will be working with human research participants subjects, or conducting textual, archival, or secondary analysis of existing database)
Expected research outcome (what do you expect the research to achieve?)
Detailed information as to what the grant will be used for
Statement from either a research supervisor or work-based supervisor, stating that she or he will mentor you throughout the research process (see Requirements during the Research Grant Period below)
A statement clarifying how human research ethics approval will be sought, granted and from which institution and which body (e.g. Internal Review Board, Human Ethics Committee) RB, HEC
A statement on how this project will assist in developing sexuality research capacity at your host institution.
Reference list (no more than one page, in addition to the 4-10 pages of the proposal).
Your proposal can include photographs and/or charts.
2. A nine (09) month timeline detailing activities and expected periodic accomplishments;

3. An estimated budget, which should identify any and all additional funds that have been obtained to support the research project and should include the following budget items:

A maximum of USD 1,000 for researcher’s stipend
A maximum of USD 500 for attending the 2013 or 2015 IASSCS conferences
A maximum of USD 3,500 for research expenses as outlined above
4. An electronic, signed letter of recommendation from the institutional research advisor, supervisor, or a senior researcher activist in your field of interest, indicating the institution’s support for the research and attesting to the applicant’s skills and capacity to carry out the research project effectively.

5. Your Curriculum Vitae (maximum 3 pages long)

Submit all documents to fvaldivia@iasscs.org by January 5th 2012 with a subject line stating: IASSCS Research Grant Program. The Research Grant Program reserves the right to decline proposals if authors do not strictly follow the submission guidelines.

Scholarship awards will be announced in February 2012.

Requirements during the Research Grant Period

During the Research Grant Period, each grantee will be expected to maintain close communication with their local (university or workplace based) mentor. Regular supervision sessions need to be planned (e.g. every 2 weeks or monthly), and a supervisor’s report (one page only each time) needs to accompany the reports from the grantee required below.

A member from IASSCS Research Development and Training Committee will provide initial feedback on the successful proposal.

Grantees will be required to provide one progress report due 6 months after receipt of award and one final report upon completion of the project, due 30 days from project end date as stated on the timeline. The progress report should include a financial report identifying specific expenses covered by the grant, in accordance with the budget submitted by the grantee with the proposal application.

Funds will be provided in two equal installments: the first will be released upon the awarding of the scholarship and the second following the review of the progress report.

Each grantee is expected to submit an abstract to, and present at, an IASSCS Conference either in 2013 or in 2015 depending on the progress and timetable of the research project.

Further inquiries can be directed to the IASSCS Secretariat on fvaldivia@iasscs.org.

        

According to the September 2011 report of the National Epidemiology Center, 253 new HIV Ab sero-positive individuals were confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory. The figure is 65 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Here are some of the other reported observations:

• 95 percent of the cases were males.
• The 20 – 29 year age group had the most number of cases at 57 percent.
• 135 cases came from the National Capital Region.
• Reported mode of transmission were sexual contact and needle sharing among injecting drug users.
• Males having sex males was the predominant type of sexual transmission at 83 percent.
• Sixteen of the reported cases were OFWs, acquired through sexual contact.

        

According to the report released by the National Epidemiology Center, 196 individuals were confirmed by the STD/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory as HIV Ab sero-positive for the month of August. The figure is 81 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Also, out of the 196 reported cases, seven were reported to be AIDS cases. There were also four reported deaths due to AIDS.

Here were the observations made for the month of August:

1. Most of the cases were males at 93 percent.
2. The 20-29 age group had the most number of cases.
3. Fifty-five percent of the reported cases came from the National Capital Region.
4. Reported modes of transmission were (1) sexual contact, (2) needle sharing among drug users and (3) mother-to-child transmission.
5. Males having sex with other males were the predominant type of sexual transmission.
6. Twenty-three individuals reported to be HIV positive were Overseas Filipino Workers.

        

By Janina Santos, Sex and Sensibilities.com Youth Correspondent

The problem is, whenever somebody says the word “vagina”, Filipinos tend to faint, if not simply drop dead.

Picture this:  a kid running around with an inflated condom, a teenage girl knowing perfectly well how the birth control pill works. Their parents would probably have a heart attack. Sex is taboo in the Philippines. People do not like talking about it, and when they do, they speak of it in hushed voices, behind a cupped hand.

Kun Mechai's "dick stick"

In contrast, when Thailand’s former senator and 1994 Ramon Magsaysay awardee Mechai Viravaidya says “vagina”, he opens his mouth and enunciates every single syllable. When Kun Mechai talks about sex, it is in a funny, in-your-face way that would make you take him seriously and think yourself stupid for branding something as biologically natural as fornication taboo. He is the kind of guy who would happily give out inflated condoms to pre-schoolers and to sex workers, coupled with his no-nonsense words of wisdom: “don’t leave home without it”. He advocated for the education of ordinary citizens like floating market vendors and taxi drivers on the know-hows of contraception. He even got Buddhist monks in the game by asking them to bless family planning devices before giving them out (imagine that happening here; the CBCP will probably curse us all with fire and brimstone). In fact, it is this attitude toward the idea sex and contraception that earned Kun Mechai the title “Condom King”.

Photo from http://suchith.myaiesec.net

Kun Mechai almost single-handedly curbed the population growth by actively promoting, educating, and empowering men and women to have control over their bodies and their futures. He saw to it that contraception devices were available even in Thailand’s version of the sari-sari store. He organized vasectomy festivals and motivated the men to be more involved in family planning. Thailand’s population explosion was halted in its tracks, and from 41 million in the 1970s, Thailand’s population rose to only about 61.5 million in the 2000’s. To fight AIDS and the discrimination of persons iving with HIV (PLHIV), he personally handed out rubbers in the Thai’s red light districts with his companions wearing condom-embellished miniskirts and baseball caps. These efforts were complemented with programs for PLHIVs to attain economic stability.  There were an estimated 7 million Thais saved from HIV because of these out of the box ideas.

During the Condom King’s recent talk at Mulat Pinoy’s “Beyond Condoms: Nation Building and the Youth” at the University of the Philippine’s College of Engineering Auditorium, he gave out a memory stick with an unmistakable resemblance to a penis to a girl who openly claimed that she was mortified by condoms. Talk about a hands-on approach to the problem of embarrassment.

Handing out what is fondly called the “dick stick” is just one of the many humorous– serious ways of how Kun Mechai makes his point. It is obviously effective in Thailand. But just how relevant are his methods in a sex phobic society such as the Philippines?

Some say it won’t be possible by a long shot, because many people here, particularly those who belong to the institutions hell-bent on keeping mum about sex and sexual health, go into convulsions if we even suggest talking to high school kids about safe sex.

Foaming at the mouth, twitching violently, the works. But as Mr. Condom says, these people only rent the country, we own it. He himself had to go up against the conservative thinking of Thai society to push through with his ideas. If Thailand can do it, why not the Philippines?

It starts with the young, Kun Mechai said.  Make the youth realize that sex is not something bad, but is an innate interest of every human being.  This kills the stigma attached to sex, and opens the kids’ minds to it.

The kids would be easy, but what about the adults, though?

I have a proposition: Why don’t we all start by opening our mouths and saying this word slowly, relishing each syllable, really wrapping and rolling it in our tongues.

C’mon, say it with me: va—gai–nah.

        

We’d like to thank our friend Lean Emmanuel Aseron, who is an AIDS Society of the Philippines Online Peer Educator for giving us an updated list of accredited Testing Sites where you can get an HIV anti-body test.

Please remember that under Philippine Law (Republic Act 8504), you cannot be mandated to take an HIV anti-body test. The law also upholds your right to confidentiality (you may choose to use an alias or a number code in place of your name) and your right to have pre and post counseling.