500 per cent surge? A closer look at the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Western Pacific

Wanggo painted a clear picture of how HIV was treated at the time: information was scarce, there was little to no media coverage, and reliable literature was hard to find. So when he received the news that he was positive, he began preparing for death.

“My sister was there when I got home. She asked: ‘How are you?’ And I tried to find a way to answer the question without lying—I don’t lie to my family,” he says. “She looked at me because it took me forever to answer one question. I eventually told her the truth because I couldn’t find a way to say I’m okay.”

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Wanggo speaks candidly about his experiences to challenge the stigma surrounding the virus, including the circumstances of how he got it. He admits to living a rather promiscuous lifestyle. “I slept around and didn’t know about my sexual rights,” he says. “That’s how it happened. In 2025, I’m much older and realise the only thing wrong with my lifestyle was the recklessness—that I didn’t approach it safely.”

A sense of disillusionment washed over Wanggo’s perception of intimacy for quite some time. He confides that he refrained from any form of sexual activity for two and a half years. “I was completely nonsexual, I thought everything about me was gross, yucky, icky. And I think that sort of thing happens when you learn you have HIV for the first time,” he says. “I never saw myself as a sexual person anymore. Ultimately, I have come to terms with what happened to me. I accepted it and started to read more. I became more informed and am back to a normal sense of intimacy.”

In many of his interviews, Wanggo emphasises that his case was a special one, given the supportive environment he had when he revealed he was living with HIV. “Well, my dad was never conservative. He was a hippie who lived a free-spirited lifestyle. Yes, there were days when he did not talk to me. As a father, he was disappointed that I was not as smart as he thought I was. However, he eventually came around, and we were able to discuss it. He was not scared about it, and I guess it was a way for him to show that this is how a family should support each other.”

In his professional life, Wanggo recalls that when he disclosed his condition, the only questions he received were, “Are you okay? “Will being here affect your health?” To which he replied, “No.” They said, “Then, we’re okay with it.” And with that, he kept his job. Wanggo reminds, however, that this is not the scene everyone faces when dealing with the virus. “I know a lot of people who lost their jobs. Sometimes, I feel so ineffective as an advocate because I don’t have most of the issues that the majority of people living with the virus go through. I had impostor syndrome.”

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In 1996, a 17-year-old Filipina overseas worker was subjected to sexual abuse by her employer in Dubai. In 2000, after undergoing a medical examination at a hospital in Manila, she discovered that she had contracted HIV. Before she had even left the place where she should have felt the safest, she was confronted with a discriminatory question: “How many men have you had sex with?”

In 2008, news broke about a family who “woke up to the blaze of fire” engulfing their modest hut in a remote village near Olongapo City. Their neighbours allegedly conspired to burn their home, driven by fear of contracting HIV, which one member was believed to carry.

In another case, a Filipina gave birth to a daughter who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2004. Unaware of her status, she did not receive antiretroviral treatment during her pregnancy. All these cases, and many others, plagued the community as discrimination remained pervasive. This is why a new government law was enacted in the Philippines to address the issue.

The Republic Act No. 11166 or Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act provides comprehensive protections for people living with HIV in the Philippines, including non-discrimination in healthcare, employment and education, access to free testing and antiretroviral treatment, confidentiality of HIV status and support for affected families, while promoting education and awareness to combat stigma.

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Dr Edsel Salvana, who serves as a special adviser to the Secretary of Health for HIV and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), says that ignorance and bad information are among the biggest challenges for people with the disease. “Solving starts with education,” Dr Salvana says. “We teach our kids to cross the street so they don’t get run over. We have to teach them about HIV and how they can protect themselves against a preventable infection that can kill them.”

As of this writing, the Philippines is experiencing the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Western Pacific region, with a whopping 418 per cent and 535 per cent chance of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths from 2010 to 2022. The Department of Health (DOH) also reported an average of 55 individuals diagnosed with HIV every day.

It also mentioned that out of the 122,255 people with HIV in the country, only 64 per cent, or 78,633 of them, are currently on antiretroviral therapy. In the Philippines, the majority of HIV cases are linked to sexual contact, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM).

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The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development both indicate that unsafe sexual practices and drug injections among men are the main drivers of HIV transmission.

This is further supported by research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, which identified young, sexually active MSM as key to the spread of the HIV in the country. “A respectful conversation and a scientific discussion of how to properly use condoms and whether preexposure prophylaxis [Prep] is an option without any kind of judgment needs to be provided to everyone before they start having sex,” Dr Salvana says. He also warns that swollen lymph nodes, rash and sore throat are not reliable indications of recent HIV infection.

“It occurs about two to four weeks after infection, but as many as half of the people may not experience it at all.” HIV tests may not become positive until two to six weeks from infection if only HIV antibody is tested, “and so we repeat the test six to eight weeks later if someone is suspected to have contracted HIV. Use of Prep can also delay seroconversion.”

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When asked if there was one myth or misconception about HIV he could erase instantly, Dr Salvana responds, “That HIV only happens to ‘bad people’. I don’t understand how others can judge those living with it, as if they somehow brought it upon themselves or deserve it. That’s just ridiculous. HIV is a disease, not God’s punishment, and it happens due to bad luck.”

He likens the disease to a dengue bite: all of us could get bitten, but some mosquitoes carry dengue and some don’t. “Does that make us bad people? People living with HIV already face numerous challenges because of their condition. Let’s not add to their burden by stigmatising them,” Dr Salvana says.

As a science communicator, Dr Salvana makes information about HIV more accessible by posting on social media and delivering talks in schools across the Philippines. He has also organised caravans at colleges and secondary schools and collaborated with non-medical professionals on outreach programmes. In 2017, he was among the researchers who published a study titled The Changing Molecular Epidemiology of HIV in the Philippines.

The study found that one reason HIV in the country shifted from ‘low to slow to fast and furious’ was a change in the dominant HIV subtype: from subtype B (typically found in the US, Canada, Australia and Western Europe) to a recombinant form known as CRF01_ AE, or simply AE, which is predominant in Thailand. This, combined with stigma, misinformation and limited access to testing, accelerated the spread of the virus and delayed effective public health responses.

“This is similar to how variants of concern during the Covid-19 pandemic supplanted the less virulent lineages and led to spikes in transmission. We also found high rates of HIV drug resistance due to suboptimal monitoring of HIV viral loads and poor medication adherence.”

In the same year, he did a Ted talk on the dangerous evolution of HIV. “The Ted talk I did was an eye opener, I basically had to squeeze my usual 30- to 45-minute talk into five minutes, which helped me figure out which information was most essential,” he says. Ted taught me that you don’t have to present a scientific treatise with all the details at the outset; that’ll intimidate the audience, and they won’t engage. Instead, by boiling the information down to what is essential, you can start the conversation and have a wider reach and a more lasting impact.”

The doctor, who also developed affordable tests for HIV drug resistance, says his invention is now undergoing clinical validation. He has two key messages for people living with the virus: “First, you are not going to die. And second, this is not your fault.”

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It has been 17 years since Wanggo first heard the news that sank his heart. Now, he lives freely as an educator whose viral load is undetectable. While a cure is not available for HIV, there is a series of antiretroviral therapy (ARVS), which makes his condition not only manageable but also allows him to live almost like someone who has never contracted the virus at all.

For him, a learnt society is more accepting. “What we do behind closed doors, as long as everything is consensual, is nobody else’s business. This is where I take issue with organised religion and any institution that seeks to regulate our freedoms. It wields power. Ideologies have tangible, real-world consequences. They shape policies that can empower some while oppressing others.”

Today, Wanggo teaches film subjects at De La Salle College of Saint Benilde and writes reviews for media platforms in the Philippines. “I am trying to write a new script. I want to get into directing—do something that involves sex positivity and is geared towards navigating the emotional and intellectual maze. I am all over the place, mostly involved in the arts.” Of course, he shares his story with whomever he can, wherever he goes. He still remembers the initial shock and doesn’t want anyone to go through that. “I love being able to share my experiences for people to learn from,” says the HIV awareness advocate.

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