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HIV epidemic in the Philippines: The 2nd wave | Xtra Magazine

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Travel to the frontlines of the health crisis and meet a generation of young people trying to build a better future

Credit: Illustrations by Jade Zhang In the Philippines, the HIV epidemic is not part of a distant past; it's an ongoing reality that affects Filipinos today. I was born in the country and lived there until 2009. At the time, there was little information about sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. In high school, our sex education involved naming organs in the reproductive system, and conversations among peers about sex were met with silence. Whispered discussions about HIV/AIDS were veiled with fear and stigma: It was a gay disease, a punishment from God. In the time since I left the P

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