The Philippines has registered a sharp increase in the number of confirmed HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) cases in the last three years and most of these individuals belong to the working group, the Department of Health (DoH) revealed Friday.

“In 2000, an average of one new case is diagnosed every three days. In 2007, it rose to one new case per day. Last year, there were two new cases diagnosed in a day,” Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said.

She added that the rising number of HIV cases in the workforce is a nudge for businesses to take part in the prevention of new infections.

Business organizations on Friday formed the “Business Champion for Health of the Philippines to achieve the Millennium Development Goals” in support of the health department’s “AIDS in the workplace program” led by Shell Philippines Chairman Ed Chua.

Organizations that support the “AIDS in the Workplace” program include Philippine Business for Social Progress, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, International Labor Organization, UNAIDS, and the Philippine National AIDS Council.

A department order from the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is underway that will mandate the establishment of an “AIDS in the workplace program,” Dr. Dale Hizon of the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) said.

He said it is just awaiting approval from Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque.

Hizon said the OSHC is currently training companies to draft their policies pertaining to the dissemination of information on HIV in the workplace.

“The primary concern should be the prevention of HIV in the workplace,” he said.

“We are giving trainings on company physicians and nurses and the human resource personnel about HIV/AIDS…we give learning sessions and we ask them (companies) to submit their plan of actions. These could be in the form of lectures, brochures and other information materials,” he said.