As part of its aim to meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (UN-MDG) to combat the spread of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immonudeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) by 2015, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will fund a three-year program in response to the increasing incidence of HIV cases in the country.

The UNDP HIV Program is pegged at US$1,172,679, in which UNDP will be funding US$750,000. The rest of the needed funding, or US$422,679, will be provided by donors through cost-sharing.

The program has five components that aim to develop intervention packages, especially among vulnerable and at-risk groups in rural areas.

UNDP country director Renaud Meyer said that HIV incidence in the country is “on the rise,” with 85 new cases reported in May 2009 alone, which brings the total of HIV cases in the country to 322 from January to May this year. The youth, or those from 20 to 24 years old, account to 29 percent.

“The data is sufficient to cause concern. We should pay regained attention to HIV,” Meyer said in an interview with reporters Thursday, adding that “more needs to be done” to combat HIV/AIDS in the country.

But Meyer said that more needs to be done in the country to meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (UN–MDGs) by 2015 as the Philippines’ overall situation in achieving the MDGs is “not rosy.”

“We need to look at more social protection policies,” Meyer said, adding that “more needs to happen at the macro level.”