Dr. Mars Custodio had passionately advocated for HIV/AIDS patients and his goal was to help as many patients at the Philippine General Hospital. Sadly, our beloved colleague passed away on November 2, 2017 at the age of 75. This Memorial Fund was established to honor his legacy.

Whereas the incidence and mortality of HIV/AIDS have plummeted worldwide, they continue to increase at an alarming rate in the Philippines. Click here. There is a high number of resistant cases that compounds the problem of managing and containing this epidemic. HIV has become the fastest mutating organism and now poses the threat of a second drug-resistant epidemic. Click here.

Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana is faculty member of the Infectious Disease Division of the Department of Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital and Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the National Institutes of Health.

He recommended the funding of drug-resistant kits to test for resistance, both at baseline and after failure of patients to respond to conventional therapy. In addition, HIV viral load at baseline and periodically during the treatment will also be tested.

It is estimated that $25,000 a year will be able to fund around 250 kits. The more money we are able to raise, the more patients we will be able to help. Our goal is to make this an ongoing project to achieve, as often stated by Mars, zero new case, zero death, and zero stigma!

This is a link to the TED talk of Dr. Salvana on “The Dangerous Evolution of HIV”.