Wazzup Pilipinas!
Advocating for greater HIV awareness, LoveYourself and its partner Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc., which is the corporate social responsibility arm of the Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX), B.V., has continuously strengthened their HIV programs for businesses, students and the youth, and other vulnerable sectors.
LoveYourself Executive Director Ronivin G. Pagtakhan said, “We need to be aggressive and varied with our programs to curb HIV and AIDS, especially now that there are 27 Filipinos getting infected every day from only four (4) individuals in 2010.”
“Through our LoveYourself Caravan, our volunteers are sweeping through schools and private companies in key cities in the National Capital Region to educate the participants on correct and consistent condom use, timely testing and treatment, and safe and satisfying sex (TSC) as well as how companies can implement an HIV Policy in their respective offices,” Pagtakhan relayed.
Recently, LoveYourself Caravan’s Philippines Business Sector Response (PBSR) to HIV, which a SPEX-funded program and implemented largely by LoveYourself, has won a Silver Anvil Award last 10 March for helping address the key health issues of the country.
Receiving the Silver Anvil Award on 10 March 2017 at the Makati Shangri-La are (L-R) PBSR Senior Officer Dr. Stella Flores (2nd from left), PSFI Project Manager Marvi Trudeau, PSFI Executive Director Edgar Veron Cruz, SPEX Managing Director Don Paulino, LoveYourself Executive Director Ronivin Pagtakhan, PBSR Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Julius Elorpe, LoveYourself Deputy for Strategic Communications Raybert Domingo and members of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.
This is the first time that a LoveYourself-implemented program has been awarded an Anvil award, considered the most prestigious recognition for public relations campaigns in the country. The PBSR program won in the category of Public Relations Programs: Directed at Specific Stakeholders, External Consumers, Communities and Special Interest/Advocacy Groups.
The PBSR is a program dedicated to businesses or enterprises which entails HIV awareness, testing and facilitating the creation and implementation of an HIV Policy in the Workplace.
Apart from PBSR, LoveYourself also has a committed program for schools and universities providing HIV education and screening. The LoveYourself Caravan programs are in cooperation with the Department of Health-Philippine National AIDS Council (DOH-PNAC), the UNAIDS, and the PSFI.
“We’ve gone through various companies and academic institutions in the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Quezon Pasay, San Juan, Taguig and even Puerto Princesa in Palawan to support their needs towards HIV education and policy requirements,” informed Earl Patrick B. Penabella, LoveYourself PBSR and Caravan Program Officer.
This is the first time that a LoveYourself-implemented program has been awarded an Anvil award, considered the most prestigious recognition for public relations campaigns in the country. The PBSR program won in the category of Public Relations Programs: Directed at Specific Stakeholders, External Consumers, Communities and Special Interest/Advocacy Groups.
The PBSR is a program dedicated to businesses or enterprises which entails HIV awareness, testing and facilitating the creation and implementation of an HIV Policy in the Workplace.
Apart from PBSR, LoveYourself also has a committed program for schools and universities providing HIV education and screening. The LoveYourself Caravan programs are in cooperation with the Department of Health-Philippine National AIDS Council (DOH-PNAC), the UNAIDS, and the PSFI.
“We’ve gone through various companies and academic institutions in the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Quezon Pasay, San Juan, Taguig and even Puerto Princesa in Palawan to support their needs towards HIV education and policy requirements,” informed Earl Patrick B. Penabella, LoveYourself PBSR and Caravan Program Officer.
LoveYourself Caravan and TestMNL.org provided HIV education, counseling and testing to the FEU Tamaraws in Manila last 08 March.
Penabella added that in 2016, the PBSR team conducted HIV related trainings to the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) member-participants in Metro Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.
Based on January 2017 DOH data, there were 844 new individuals diagnosed to have been infected with HIV, which is 5% higher compared to the same period last year and the highest reported cases since 1984.
Currently, LoveYourself Caravan is being boosted through the TestMNL (testMNL.org) campaign, which is an adaptation of the TestBKK in Bangkok, Thailand funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation through the APCOM, a regional organization that promotes HIV issues that affect the lives of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people, including rights, health and well-being.
On 24 March, LoveYourself Caravan and TestMNL will be conducting an alternative learning experience to the Pre-Medical Society of the University of the Philippines-Diliman in Quezon City concerning HIV and AIDS, which also includes HIV counseling and testing.
To answer queries on HIV and other sexual health inquiries, LoveYourself Volunteers set up booths during PUP’s celebration of LGBT Pride last 10 March.
In March alone, LoveYourself Caravan and TestMNL have conducted HIV education, counseling and testing at the Far Eastern University (08 March), Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Sta. Mesa (10 March), Philippine Normal University (11 March) and UP Los Baños (13 March).
For more details on other LoveYourself’s services, individuals may visit the group’s official website at www.loveyourself.ph or follow and like its social media channels: Facebook- @loveyourself.ph, Twitter- @loveyourselfph, and Instagram- @loveyourself.ph.
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