Youth leaders have urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement the modules for HIV and AIDS in the education system, saying it is a crucial strategy to encourage the young to protect themselves against the virus.

The 2010 national HIV summit provided a venue for various sectors to discuss the issue, but the leaders are clear that they will not settle for empty promises. Unmindful of the expected non-approval of church leaders, they pressed for the use of set of instructions previously developed by the civil society and the academe that tackles issues on sexuality to adolescents.

“There should be a clear adolescent reproductive health education…we have HIV positive cases who are as young as 14 and 15,” Kiko dela Tonga, Likhaan youth coordinator said.

A passionate advocate of the rights of the youth, Dela Tonga said that the module, developed sometime in the 90’s has not been implemented after it received flak from the church. But the youth advocate said the module is very ‘constructive’ as far as information dissemination is concerned and does not promote promiscuity or lewdness.

“It is still constructive because there were no illustrations. The terms were in Filipino and the reproductive parts were identified through a general term instead of their specific tagalog terms,” he said.

There is even an issue on gender bias, he said, with parts of the module suggesting that women should be confined in certain roles, like in the household taking care of the children. Furthermore, the modules lacked the issue discussing the group Men having sex with Men (MSM).

A health official recently disclosed that the MSM group is ‘nearly crossing the line’ as far as HIV incidence is concerned.

“Our situation is already alarming. We are crossing the line. The low prevalence rate is below one percent. We already have data among MSM which is .99 percent which is almost 1, so we are crossing the low prevalence already,” Dr. Delen Dela Paz, vice president for health Action for human rights, told the press in a conference just before the national HIV summit held last April 12.

“We counsel people as young as 14 and 15 who are already HIV positive,” Dela Tonga said to further stress the need for the application of the modules in the local education system.

Marlon T. Lacsamana, program officer of the Institute for Social Studies and Action, also said the module is careful in its delivery of ideas in possible anticipation of reaction from church leaders.

But Lacsamana, who is a passionate promoter of reproductive health rights, also believes that the debate on the use of condoms is passé and that education that will also cover the most –at-risk populations including persons in prostitution, Men having sex with Men (MSM) and person who injects drugs (PWID) should be prioritized.

“Where is the accountability? It is cheaper to invest in condoms than Anti-retrovirals…the cheapest is education,” he said.

Anti-Retroviral drugs suppress the multiplication of the virus in the patient so that the risk of acquiring infections is also reduced. People living with HIV are unable to fight infections completely as HIV compromises the work of the immune system.

Lacsamana believes sex education would greatly impress upon the youth the need to make careful decisions especially when the HIV/AIDS incidence in the country is increasing.

But educating the youth on sex is one thing and having an impact on the incidence of the disease in the country is another battle to conquer, National Epidemiology Center (NEC) director Dr. Eric Tayag said.

“Sexuality education delays initiation into sex but has no significant impact on STI and HIV incidence,” he said on a separate interview.