THE DEPARTMENT of Health on Wednesday stressed that they continue to look for new approaches to address the spike in human immunodeficiency virus cases in the country.

This includes increased awareness and education among the youth since they are the most vulnerable, with those as young as 15 years old getting infected with the virus.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said 59,000 Filipinos are living with HIV, which is still considered low for the country’s population of 110 million.

The secretary further admitted that what is alarming is the country’s daily case rate of 55.

“I had a meeting with Vice President Sara Duterte, Secretary Sara, kasi we need to educate our youth,” Herbosa said.

“They’re more, ano, nag-e-experiment and curious,” he added.

The DOH is also looking to make antiretroviral treatment available in the private sector to enable individuals with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the chronic disease caused by HIV, to treat themselves, noting that ARV is only available through government health institutions.

“So iniisip ko ngayon we could have a program where we can allow the doctors or a guardian to allow the ARVs to be had. Kasi ang ARV natin sa gobyerno lang makukuha through PhilHealth. You can’t buy it in the private sector,” Herbosa said.

“The other thing is probably make it available in the private sector,” he added.