The number of HIV cases in the Philippines has continued to increase over the past two years, alarming the Department of Health. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that while the number of new HIV infections worldwide had gone down by 17 percent since 2001, the number of new cases in the Philippine continues to increase. The 2009 Integrated HIV Behavioral and Serological Surveillance (IHBSS) conducted by the DOH showed that the overall prevalence of cases in the most-at-risk population is 530 per 100,000 population.
