THE Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) is providing members and dependents living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) additional financial support, should they acquire tuberculosis (TB) and other ailments on account of their damaged immune system.

Philhealth made the statement as the country prepares to observe World AIDS Day on December 1, amid a rash of new HIV cases.

“We will pay simultaneously for the anti-retroviral therapy as well as TB treatment of HIV-positive members and dependents. If they are hospitalized due to any other secondary illnesses, they will also be provided the regular inpatient benefits,” said Philhealth President and CEO, Dr. Eduardo Banzon.

“Owing to their impaired immune system, Filipinos living with HIV are extremely vulnerable to TB. Their bodies are unable to stop the TB bacteria from reproducing,” Banzon said.

Besides TB, Banzon said that people living with HIV are likewise more susceptible to other opportunistic diseases, such as pneumonia or even vicious fungal infections.

“TB is particularly dangerous for people with HIV infection. Worldwide, TB is the leading cause of death among persons with HIV infection and almost one in four deaths among people with HIV infection is due to TB,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“TB bacteria can live in the body without making a person sick. This is called latent TB infection. In most people who breathe in TB bacteria, and become infected, the body is able to fight the bacteria to stop it from growing. People with latent TB infection do not feel sick and do not have any symptoms. TB bacteria become active if the immune system can’t stop it from growing. When TB bacteria are multiplying in the body, this is called active TB disease,” the CDC explained.

HIV causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. The disease that destroys the human body’s immune system still does not have any known cure. However, anti-retroviral therapy has been known to slow down the advance of the disease.

The Philippines reported the discovery of 2,466 new HIV infections from January to September this year, up 48 percent versus the 1,669 spotted over the same nine-month period in 2011.

The National HIV and AIDS Registry, which began passive surveillance in 1984, now lists a cumulative 10,830 cases, of which 6,406 were detected from 2010 onward.

Nine out of every 10 cases in the registry were infected through sexual contact.

At least 2,761 Filipinos living with HIV are now undergoing anti-retroviral therapy, according to the registry.

At present, Philhealth’s Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment (OHAT) Package pays P30,000 every year, or P7,500 per quarter, for the anti-retroviral therapy of members and dependents living with HIV.

Banzon said that those availing of the OHAT may concurrently benefit from Philhealth’s Directly-Observed Therapy Short Course (DOTS) for TB Package.

In DOTS, the patient gets uninterrupted supply of anti-TB drugs. Either a family member or a health worker supervises the patient’s medicine intake and treatment outcome is monitored.

Philhealth pays for the entire six-month treatment, including the diagnostic work-up, consultation services and drugs provided upon enrollment in the DOTS.