Hospitals for AIDS/HIV

[huangyenhao]

Hi all,

I have a problem,hope you guys can give me some advices.

Here is the story:

One of my friend who lives abroad told me yesterday,he has a cousin who got AIDS/HIV few years ago (he is a gay),my friend wants to bring his cousin to Philippines for further treatment since it's cheaper here.He asked me to suggest a nice hospital which is professional in this field.I told him honestly that I do not really wish him to bring his cousin here but if he insists,I will respect his decision.He said they will use "medical visa" to enter the PH.I suggested 3 following medical centers to my friend:

1.Makati Med. (convenient,but old)
2.St.Lukes (nice facilities,small,expensive)
3.The Medical City (hotel type hospital,good environment,far,expensive)

Which one is more professional on AIDS/HIV ?
Can anyone share some useful information like the expenses of medicine,room,doctor and other living expenses?
My friend's budget is around 1M for 3~4 months,is it enough?


Thanks for your help in advance.

[XTO]

If you choose St. Luke’s Medical Center, the patient can go directly to Pathology Institute for the testings needed as well as forms to fill up then AFAIK from there they can refer the patient to San Lazaro Hospital. HTH.

[shadow]

can a foreigner even be allowed to enter the country if he has aids/HIV? diba when applying visa they ask if you have some contagious diseases?

[huangyenhao]

My friend said the visa for medical purposes can be used.

[wildthing]

Philippines is not a forefront in HIV/AIDs research. US is more equipt. He will definitely encounter "racist" treatment here...pinoy's are not too professional about this disease.

If they are considering "saving money" as an issue then Philippines will never be the better option...since when did the Philippine medical treatment become cheap? since when did antibiotic cost become cheaper in the Philippines?

Those hospitals - St. Luke, MMC, MC are not cheap hospitals either.

[uls]

the Phils has very low hiv prevalence so our medical professionals dont have much experience in treating HIV infected people.

Madidiscriminate lang sya dito.

And how would it be cheaper here? How much ba ang lab tests dito? HIV positive people have to get lab tests often diba? To check number of immune cells and virus.

Di ko alam kung saan lab na may equipment para sa ganyan test. Hindi lang simple blood test yan. Sigurado mahal yan.

And where will that patient get hiv drugs? meron ba sa Mercury? Dunno...

Alam ko sa San Lazaro meron AIDS unit sila.

Better go to Thailand. Expert na sila sa HIV this part of the world.

[Horsepower]

3-4 mos at St.Lukes? prepare around 20 Million for that kind of disease.

San Lazaro HIV ward. Haven't been to San Lazaro but seen it in a movie about this HIV patient, it's a public hospital. Since HIV can't be cured, it must be some sort of ward where patients just wait to die. (sorry i have no idea what they do there with AIDS people).

It's better to bring him to Thailand or United States (high-tech mga hospital dun). It's a waste of time bringing his cousin here.

[smooth]

the Phils has very low hiv prevalence so our medical professionals dont have much experience in treating HIV infected people.

Madidiscriminate lang sya dito.

And how would it be cheaper here? How much ba ang lab tests dito? HIV positive people have to get lab tests often diba? To check number of immune cells and virus.

Di ko alam kung saan lab na may equipment para sa ganyan test. Hindi lang simple blood test yan. Sigurado mahal yan.

And where will that patient get hiv drugs? meron ba sa Mercury? Dunno...

Alam ko sa San Lazaro meron AIDS unit sila.

Better go to Thailand. Expert na sila sa HIV this part of the world.

sorry but i beg to disagree. we have many well trained specialists here. furthermore, we have a lot of support groups in this country.

we actually have a very low HIV/AIDS prevalence in this country. this is in fact quite a mystery considering we have a lot of OFW's. is it because we are an archipelago? is it our culture? our practices? its weird but there are even theories that circumcision might actually be beneficial in preventing the spread of HIV. (so much so that they are now advocating circumcision in africa.)

is your cousin's friend a filipino? why is he interested in going to the phils?

let us not discriminate. HIV+ patients can lead a full and fruitful life.

perhaps i can help you out. PM me your contact number.

[FrankDrebin]

AFAIK, DOH strictly monitors HIV patients.

[uls]

sorry but i beg to disagree. we have many well trained specialists here. furthermore, we have a lot of support groups in this country.

we actually have a very low HIV/AIDS prevalence in this country. this is in fact quite a mystery considering we have a lot of OFW's. is it because we are an archipelago? is it our culture? our practices? its weird but there are even theories that circumcision might actually be beneficial in preventing the spread of HIV. (so much so that they are now advocating circumcision in africa.)

ok... we got professionals... but that's just part of it...

How about labs? AFAIK, patients need to monitor the number of immune cells and virus in the blood regularly. Do we have that kind of infrastructure here? How much will those lab tests cost?

How about availability of HIV drugs? Hindi ba they have to keep taking it and shouldnt stop coz if they do the virus will develop resistance? Steady ba ang supply ng HIV drugs dito sa atin? Pano kung out of stock?

[shadow]

tingin ko hinde papasukin yan pag nag apply ng visa dito sa atin...grounds for denial kung meron kang contagious disease...

[n2knee]

fyi
sa USA, required ang individual na mag register sa dept. of health kapag hiv/aids positive ka. tapos imomonitor ka ng dept. of health. hindi ba covered ng health insurance ang treatment ng hiv? at kung hindi man covered, meron naman yatang research groups na nagbibigay ng libreng treatment.

[BackSpace]

San Lazaro lang ang alam ko para sa mga HIV/AIDS

[wildthing]

I'm sure your cousin wouldn't like San Lazaro... lalo na't free ward lang ang HIV/AIDS yata.

[smooth]

ok... we got professionals... but that's just part of it...

How about labs? AFAIK, patients need to monitor the number of immune cells and virus in the blood regularly. Do we have that kind of infrastructure here? How much will those lab tests cost?

How about availability of HIV drugs? Hindi ba they have to keep taking it and shouldnt stop coz if they do the virus will develop resistance? Steady ba ang supply ng HIV drugs dito sa atin? Pano kung out of stock?

okay, sorry, i realized i didn't give much details.

i personally know someone who had specific training at the mayo clinic in rochester. i just got to talk to her and we have all the necessary facilities, laboratory work-ups and medicines. she is very much involved with the HIV program in our country. and no, they cannot deny you a visa just because you are HIV+. (honest to goodness question: kailangan ba ng visa para makapasok ng pinas, eg. may philippine visa ba?)

for obvious reasons, i am not posting the institutions involved in the care of HIV patients (because of the stigma involved) pero you guys are correct that there is a special place in san lazaro for patients.

[huangyenhao]

Thanks all for your help,my friend is a Chinese and he chose PH is simply that it's the nearest nation compared to Thailand.He said his cousin always gets tired every 2 hours so Thailand is still far for them.His cousin has been infected for 8 years I think.

I do not know much about their Visa but he is sure that they are allowed to use medical visa to enter PH.

Does it really cost a lot in here? 20M for 4 months? ridiculous!

They need a good private hospital to stay in...I don't think public hospital is good for his cousin unless it has presidential room.

[jvdejesus05]

Hi all,

I have a problem,hope you guys can give me some advices.

Here is the story:

One of my friend who lives abroad told me yesterday,he has a cousin who got AIDS/HIV few years ago (he is a gay),my friend wants to bring his cousin to Philippines for further treatment since it's cheaper here.He asked me to suggest a nice hospital which is professional in this field.I told him honestly that I do not really wish him to bring his cousin here but if he insists,I will respect his decision.He said they will use "medical visa" to enter the PH.I suggested 3 following medical centers to my friend:

1.Makati Med. (convenient,but old)
2.St.Lukes (nice facilities,small,expensive)
3.The Medical City (hotel type hospital,good environment,far,expensive)

Which one is more professional on AIDS/HIV ?
Can anyone share some useful information like the expenses of medicine,room,doctor and other living expenses?
My friend's budget is around 1M for 3~4 months,is it enough?


Thanks for your help in advance.

i suggest that he goes to the US for treatment... as per experience here in the philippines as a nurse, the country is not that fully equiped to treat nor to give interventions for such cases... the US is the best choice to go to if he wants some treatment...

[compact]

Hi all,

I have a problem,hope you guys can give me some advices.

Here is the story:

One of my friend who lives abroad told me yesterday,he has a cousin who got AIDS/HIV few years ago (he is a gay),my friend wants to bring his cousin to Philippines for further treatment since it's cheaper here.He asked me to suggest a nice hospital which is professional in this field.I told him honestly that I do not really wish him to bring his cousin here but if he insists,I will respect his decision.He said they will use "medical visa" to enter the PH.I suggested 3 following medical centers to my friend:

1.Makati Med. (convenient,but old)
2.St.Lukes (nice facilities,small,expensive)
3.The Medical City (hotel type hospital,good environment,far,expensive)

Which one is more professional on AIDS/HIV ?
Can anyone share some useful information like the expenses of medicine,room,doctor and other living expenses?
My friend's budget is around 1M for 3~4 months,is it enough?


Thanks for your help in advance.

Yun bang subject ay may HIV o full blown AIDS na?

coz AFAIK, treatment and management for people with HIV includes cocktails of retrovirals to impede the colonization / destruction of CD4 immune cells by the HIV.(coz we cannot really kill the virus)

While treatment for a full blown AIDS is mainly symptomatic, that is you treat the symptom that arises specially those opportunistic infections such as pneumonia and TB.

During the time of the Former First Lady Ming Ramos, Bahay Lingap of San Lazaro is a world class facility that deals with HIV, ngayon napabayaan na.

Yung H4 ward naman nila for patient with full blown aids i assume ay hindi nya rin magugustuhan.

May suggestion is that, kung HIV pa lang yan, go to the USA. Pag full blown AIDS na, stay na lang sa China.