HIV and TB Overview: Philippines

At a glance

CDC works with partners in the Philippines to build sustainable public health capacity, strengthen laboratory systems and surveillance networks, deliver high-quality HIV diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services, and respond swiftly to disease outbreaks at their source, preventing health threats from reaching the U.S.

Flag of the Philippines. Two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red. A white equilateral triangle is based on the left (hoist) side. The center of the triangle displays a yellow sun with eight primary rays. Each corner of the triangle contains a small, yellow, five-pointed star.

Strategic focus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office in the Philippines was established in 2022. CDC began partnering with the Government of the Philippines under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2023. CDC addresses the HIV and TB epidemics by focusing on treatment and prevention service delivery gaps in public and community health facilities.

The Philippines is experiencing the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Western Pacific Region and is one of the countries with the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB), which is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV). CDC strengthens public health surveillance and laboratory systems in high-burden regions in the Philippines. CDC and partners collaborate with the Philippines Department of Health (DOH) and other country government agencies. CDC also works closely with multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, stakeholders, civil society, and other partners to ensure CDC and PEPFAR program activities are aligned with national strategies and priorities for sustainable HIV and TB responses.

Read more about CDC's most recent key activities and accomplishments below.

Resource

Download CDC's HIV and TB Philippines fact sheet.
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Building public health capacity

  • Provided support to 24 health facilities to implement strategic information and quality improvement activities. This aimed to strengthen performance management, improve data quality, and facilitate program improvements by training health facilities on how to utilize online data dashboards to improve HIV treatment and outcomes.
  • Co-led a data workshop with the DOH to analyze results from recent infection surveillance (RIS). This resulted in a planned response from the DOH to five geographic areas of concern. The approach included increasing access to testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the regions that showed more recent HIV transmission.

Strengthening laboratory systems and networks

  • Collaborated with the DOH to scale up the number of rapid HIV diagnostic certified testing sites to 137 sites across the country.
  • Trained over 1,300 health workers on rapid testing for recent HIV infection. Now, 36 facilities are using RIS to improve understanding of HIV transmission over time and target testing and prevention strategies.

HIV prevention and treatment

  • Supported PrEP demand creation and used peer navigators for linkage to treatment from community service organizations to community-based testing sites.
  • Implemented comprehensive, evidence-based prevention services and targeted HIV testing interventions tailored to people at greater risk for HIV, including a social network strategy and opt-out testing at healthcare facilities.
  • Strengthened the management capacity of community-based organizations for PLHIV and people at greater risk for HIV to enable them to receive local government funding.

By the numbers

HIV

Estimated HIV Prevalence (Ages 15-49)

0.3% (2023)

Estimated HIV Deaths (Age ≥15)

1,800 (2023)

Reported Number Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) (Age ≥15)

81,088 (2023)

TB

Estimated TB Incidence

643/100,000 population (2023)

Reported Percent of People with TB and HIV

0.7% (2023)

TB Treatment Success Rate
78% (2022)

Resources

CDC in Philippines

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