LocationsBy Cyra Borlongan, HIV Communications Assistant and Andyleen Feje, HIV Response Analyst for Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF), UNDP Philippines
Transforming HIV Response: Ensuring Access and Empowerment of Local Youth Leaders
January 26, 2026
Sangguniang Kabataan officials from different parts of the Philippines have taken part in the ‘Local Youth Responding to the HIV Epidemic’ initiative, empowering them to advance policy and systems change within their localities.
Across the Philippines, HIV response continues to evolve. Young people now carry a disproportionate share of new HIV infections, with nearly half (47%) of estimated new HIV infections from January to June 2025 are among the youth aged 15-24 (DOH Epidemiology Bureau). Meanwhile, local health systems face mounting pressures and competing demands due to disruption of funding for other health services in local government units.
As we begin 2026, we carry the lessons of World AIDS Day 2025 and its call to “Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response.” The year ahead asks us to revisit and continue the progress we made together, which is built and rebuilt through the courage of communities, the resolve of leaders, and the unwavering belief that everyone deserves equitable, stigma-free access to life-saving care.
Amid the challenges, new models of leadership are emerging. Leaders who choose transformation over retreat. From strengthening youth-friendly services, investing in equitable, people-centered approaches, and developing youth-led policies on AIDS, their work demonstrates that the disruption in the global HIV response is, in fact, a call to action to redesign interventions that make smarter, more efficient use of both financial resources and the collective strengths of the community.
Political leadership: Investing on equitable, youth-friendly health system
In many local health units, programs often compete for attention and resources, especially during this time when many life-saving funding streams were stalled. When it comes to urgent health issues like HIV and AIDS affecting young people, strong advocacy, consistent lobbying, and clear prioritization can pave the way for meaningful investment in a health system that truly includes and serves everyone.
This commitment is evident in the work of Dr. Shamae Benitez, a rural health physician and the Program Manager for Communicable Diseases in San Carlos City, Pangasinan. She has been at the forefront of reshaping the local HIV response in her community. Driven by her passion for digital innovation and youth-centered programming, she has championed initiatives that make HIV services more accessible and empowering, especially for young people. Among her notable efforts are the rollout of the ‘Lakbay Kalusugan (Health Caravan) Initiative,’ a program that brings HIV screening directly to high schools and universities in the city, which has currently tested over 700 young individuals this year; and the “zero-budget” Social Hygiene Clinic website.
Through the leadership of the San Carlos City Health Office, an operational social hygiene clinic now brings essential HIV services closer to communities, especially to young people.
This momentum culminated on 19 November 2025 with the launch of the city’s new Social Hygiene Clinic (SHC) strategically located at the second floor of their public market. The clinic was envisioned as a lifeline for communities that previously had to travel over an hour to reach the nearest facility, a barrier that often led to loss of follow-up among people who tested positive for HIV. Now, care is closer, more convenient, and designed with the needs of people in mind.
With ‘zero budget’ spent using an open-source software, Dr. Benitez and her team built a website to further strengthen the reach of the SHC and to address the hesitancy of people seeking medical attention. In this platform, the clients can discreetly book appointments and access information about HIV without the usual hurdles. Using resource efficient interventions, the clinic offers both physical and virtual access points to compassionate, stigma-free, and rights-based care, reflecting her vision of an equitable health system for the people of San Carlos.
Through the San Carlos City Social Hygiene Clinic Website, patients can book HIV services anonymously. Currently on beta release, all features will be publicly available in the second quarter of 2026.
"It is vital to make the youth feel that they have an agency in exploring their sexuality safely while still respecting religious traditions and culture. If we empower them to find solutions on their own, I believe this will strengthen strategies that encourage greater awareness and HIV testing among the youth."Dr. Shamae Benitez, Program Manager for Communicable Diseases, San Carlos City, Pangasinan
Now that access to life-saving information and access to youth-friendly care are present, it is important to involve and mobilize youth leaders to start the ripples of stigma-free HIV and AIDS conversations. With this, the City Health Office organized a “Local Youth Leaders Responding to HIV Epidemic” workshop with the Sangguniang Kabataan (local youth council) and the Local Youth Development Office, in collaboration with the Philippine National AIDS Council and UNDP Philippines, Thirty more youth leaders were trained, in addition to the 113 SKs trained previously on initiating HIV prevention activities utilizing the local budget allocated for young people.
Community leadership: Young people driving health system change
Prioritizing health issues that affect young people is one of the key strategies for encouraging them not only in adopting healthier behaviors that they can carry through adulthood, but also in actively participating in policy and decision-making. In HIV programs, working ‘with’ and not only ‘for’ the youth is crucial to center their voices and needs, remove barriers and stigma between them and the health system, and inspire them to become youth health influencers within their circles.
Recognizing this, the United Nations Development Programme, in collaboration with the Philippine National AIDS Council and the National Youth Commission, has trained more than 143 Sangguniang Kabataan officials from across the Philippines. These youth leaders learned how to discuss HIV information with various audiences such as young people, community leaders, parents, and barangay workers; and how to incorporate HIV-related activities into their Local Youth Development Plans (LYDP) to include HIV-related activities and initiatives.
Through this initiative, youth leaders have emerged as HIV champions, leading awareness efforts in their communities. One of them, Jaycee del Rosario, led the successful lobbying for a local HIV and AIDS ordinance in his community in Cavite in January 2025. This opened pathways for more young people to engage in public health, shape social norms, and prioritize their sexual and reproductive health.
“With the passage of the ordinance, grassroots level approach to mitigate the rising cases of HIV could help improve public health and access to health services can be provided firsthand by SK officials. The ordinance also addresses the stigma and the discrimination, as peer and youth-led activities stated in the ordinance will be rolled out by the task force on HIV and AIDS, which ensures fund availability and stakeholder engagement for long-term and sustainable programs, projects, and activities (PPAs).”Jaycee del Rosario, HIV Champion, Cavite
Choosing transformation over retreat
In the face of a historic funding crisis threatening decades of progress in the global HIV response, supporting young people must remain a priority. This means investing in youth leadership, safeguarding essential programs, and reshaping HIV services to reflect young people’s lived realities.
Young HIV response advocates in Sumilao, Bukidnon.
Supporting young people requires a whole-of-nation approach. We must ensure political commitment in every community and address structural inequalities by allocating resources strategically to where they are needed most. As we work toward the 2030 targets, strengthening systems that put young people at the center is essential to securing their health and shaping a healthier future for generations to come. [E]
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