The Love Yourself Project

SIMPLY, IT'S TIME TO ACT.
Thirty years since the discovery of AIDS, the world appears to be ready to look at the epidemic with a more optimistic lens: the death rate is going down in many parts of the world, thanks to innovation in anti-retroviral treatment, and there’s a global decline in new infections...
Unfortunately, that spirit of optimism will not reach Philippine shores. Citing government reports, the United Nations said that the Philippines is one of the only seven countries worldwide that diverged from the global trend: the country is experiencing a sharp rise in HIV infection, from one new infection a day in 2007 to five to six a day in 2011. The Department of Health’s official HIV registry is not showing an unusual rise in HIV deaths, but stories of deaths among young men (who had sex with men) due to AIDS-related complications are circulating within the gay, bisexual and transgendered community. These deaths, mostly a result of late diagnosis of HIV status and failure to access treatment, are increasing but remain undetected because of stigma: families of those who perished refuse to report the real cause of death.
-- “An emerging epidemic”, by Jonas Bagas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 June 2011
The Love Yourself Project, as its masthead explains, “aims to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among the youth and the Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) sector in the Philippines, primarily through education and counseling. It is the first project by the VINN Advocacy group.”

Follow The Love Yourself Project here.
Ang HIV, wala pa mang gamot, mayroon ng solusyon. Pagmamahal sa sarili, pagmamahal sa kapwa. The first step really is to Love Yourself. [ManilaGayGuy]