PH, US Expand Partnership Against TB

The United States and Philippine Governments have expanded its partnership in a continuous fight to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) in the Philippines.

U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) Michael Klecheski and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently launched two five-year projects valued at more than P2.5 billion to support the country’s goal to end TB.

“Eradicating TB in the Philippines is a crucial step for the country to achieve its development goals,” said Klecheski.

He added that the U.S. government will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Philippine government to end TB.

TB Innovations, implemented by Family Health International 360, and TB Platforms, implemented by the University Research Corporation, were aimed at finding and curing more TB cases in the country by supporting the Department of Health’s National TB Control Program.

It also aims to enhance TB prevention and treatment measures being done by local government units.

The project will enable to expand access to state-of-the-art TB detection technologies and encourage high-riskpopulations to seek and complete necessary TB treatment.

Klecheski launched the projects with Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and Department Ssocial Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary Glenda de Rama Relova. The event, which coincided with National Lung Month, drew more than 500 people and included free TB screenings and educational activities to teach local residents on how to maintain healthy lungs.

“Our partnership with the DSWD and USAID energizes the Department of Health’s work to provide equitable access to quality TB care and help alleviate poverty in our country,” said Health Secretary Duque.

During the event, the DOH and DSWD launched the integration of the TB module into the DSWD Family Development Sessions. These sessions will include health education classes on TB prevention, control, care, and treatment for recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Philippine government’s conditional cash transfer program.

Approximately 1 million people in the Philippines currently have active TB, and many of whom do not know they have the disease. Although TB is curable, at least 60 Filipinos die from the disease every day. TB can result in catastrophic costs to households and causes billions of pesos in economic losses in the Philippines each year.

These new USAID projects bring the total U.S. government contribution in support of DOH’s National Tuberculosis Control Program to over Php6.5 billion. As a result of the U.S.-Philippine partnership, the number of TB patients diagnosed and treated in the Philippines has more than doubled since 2006. (USEmbassyPH/SDL/JEG/PIA-NCR)