Protect yourself, love yourself: How to be more HIV-proof

HIV awareness isn’t just for the start of the month.

Depending on your beliefs, sex and safe sex practices can be met with varying opinions. HIV faces an even more complex set of reactions and opinions, ranging from disbelief to rejection.

Whatever belief you currently hold, the reality is that the number of HIV cases continues to rise in the Philippines, and interventions need to be in place and made accessible. It can start with knowing a few measures that can help.

Let’s make sure that the discourse on HIV goes beyond its designated day. Taking precaution, getting some education, and making good decisions can make a difference in keeping yourself and your partner safe.

Education and awareness

A big chunk to battling any problem is gaining a much better understanding of it. This is why education is important whenever we try to tackle an obstacle in front of us. As they say, knowing is half the battle won.

HIV is not exempt from this. Despite the disease’s presence and threat in the world, there are still a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about what it is, how it spreads, and what can be done for prevention.

Make the time to gain a better understanding of HIV through the proper channels. While it’s easy to know the basics—HIV cannot be transmitted through a handshake or even closed-mouth kissing, for starters, or receiving a blood transfusion safely through a hospital—there is much to know about the disease.

Part of awareness is also ensuring that you are informed of your own well-being and condition. If you are sexually active or are planning to be, getting tested for HIV is a good first step or a regular practice to partake in.

Regardless of the status of your relationship, communication with your partner is important, albeit difficult, especially if you are taking a step towards physical intimacy with each other.

Find a safe space to discuss this matter. Not only can this bring about safety and reassurance for your well-being, but the act of openness may also be a way to deepen the relationship more.

Be proactive, PrEP!

Having a physical sense of sexual security and safety can alleviate a significant burden. If you want to take extra precaution to avoid vulnerability to HIV—regardless if you are currently in a committed relationship or if you are in a stage of exploration in your sexuality—being proactive may start with being PrEP-ed. 

PrEP, which is short of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, is a preventive method for HIV. It is a biomedical intervention that can be taken in the form of a pill. According to Love Yourself, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration has only approved one PrEP formulation. This is the combined Tenofovir and Emtricitabine, which is currently sold as Truvada. 

For now, PrEP is the closest way to protecting the self through medication, though an injectable may be gaining traction in the Philippines. Compared to those without precautions, PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 92%. The pill works by blocking HIV enzymes from taking root in the body. This works even more when combined with other precautionary measures such as engaging in safer sex practices.

Hold your head high; there’s no shame with condom use

Perhaps the most common but oft-debated way to safe sex is condom use. Buying and using condoms still holds some stigma—so much so that apps like Safe Spaces PH are called for to provide access to free condoms in nondiscriminating spaces.

Attitudes can also influence condom use, wherein some people may have a negative outlook toward it, leading to less use or acceptance of the act. These attitudes sometimes propagate the idea that condom use will make the experience less pleasurable or romantic, among others.

However, studies show that using condoms the right way during every sexual encounter can decrease the chances of transmission by up to 90 to 95%.

In time, the hope is for the stigma to truly disappear as more awareness and understanding spreads in its place. PREMIERE Condoms, in collaboration with Watsons, recently achieved a significant milestone by placing the Philippines on the global map.

Now penned in the Guinness World Records, the brand’s recent Protected & Proud event now officially holds the title for the Largest Condom Donation in One Hour. Apart from setting the record, the event also sheds much-needed light on safe sex awareness and HIV prevention.

“This historic moment strengthens our mission of educating young Filipinos on HIV prevention and protection. It shows what’s possible when organizations and communities work together,” says Drei Ledesma of the UP Babaylan, the partner and benefactor of condom donations.

There will still need to be a few more steps to move the discourse and the action forward. But for now, every step matters in the fight for safer intimacy and connections in the country. 

 

 

Taking precaution, getting some education, and making good decisions can make a difference in keeping yourself and your partner safe.

 

 

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