The Early HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Philippines (1984–1995)

Abstract

Since 1984, when the first HIV case was reported in the Philippines, the viral infection has been the subject of popular, political, and public health concern. In the 1980s HIV/AIDS was mostly perceived as a foreign threat, mobilized against US military presence in the country. Then, in the early 1990s, HIV/AIDS evolved into a moral issue, figuring into the reproductive politics emerging from long-standing church–state tensions in the country. Taking these points together, this article illustrates how HIV and AIDS influenced larger political and social issues in the Philippines, and conversely, how these issues informed how HIV/AIDS was framed and responded to.

KEYWORDS: HIV • EPIDEMICS • MORAL PANICS • HISTORY OF MEDICINE • PUBLIC HEALTH