After achieving great success as the talismanic leader of the Ateneo Blue Eagles collegiate basketball team, the mercurial 24-year-old has gone onto a larger stage in professional basketball, playing for the Smart Gilas team. He also is a celebrated TV host, with two popular shows – “Pinoy Records” and “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” – on GMA-7, as well as a popular image model and a sitting barangay kagawad. Rounding out his list of accomplishments are degrees in Management Engineering and Mathematical Finance. Clearly, Chris is all about worthy ventures.
Chris’ latest may be his most important one. The basketball superstar and all-around nice guy is now looking to parlay some of his fame and renown in teaching others about the dangers of HPV infection and the importance of prevention. He is at the helm of a new campaign against the disease called Help Fight HPV, with a TV commercial in the works that’s set to premier sometime before the end of the month.
He recently joined us at the Good Times booth to talk about his new found advocacy.
“HPV, which is short for human papilomavirus, is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world today,” said Chris. “But while we all know that HPV can lead to cervical cancer, no one really talks about how men are threatened by the virus as well.”
Chris makes a good point. Women have known about the risks posed by HPV infection for years. In the country, about 12 Filipino women die each day of cervical cancer, a disease linked with HPV. The virus is also seen as a cause of vaginal and vulvar cancers.
But while doctors estimate that up to 50 percent of sexually active people will catch HPV in their lifetime, few seem to know about just how commonplace the infection is, with a great number of cases going undiagnosed.
Even more are unaware of the equally serious threat that HPV poses to men. Certain HPV types cause highly contagious genital warts – a disease that affects both men and women – and that is passed on to about 32 million people around the world each year.
“Abstinence really is the surest way of preventing HPV. The good news though is that, today, both men and women can prevent HPV infection through vaccination,” added Chris. “So I urge everyone to go ask their doctor about getting vaccinated.”
Source: DJ MOJO JOJO | Manila Bulletin
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