END TB. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (seated, 2nd from right) and representatives of the World Health Organization, the United States Agency for International Development and other partner agencies renew their commitment to treat 2.5 million tuberculosis patients nationwide by 2022. A WHO report said that in 2017, there were approximately 581,000 Filipinos diagnosed with active TB and 27,000 Filipinos have died of the disease. (Photo courtesy of the Departmenet of Health)
MANILA -- The Department of Health (DOH) vowed to find and treat 2.5 million tuberculosis patients by 2022 to end the high burden of the disease in the country.
“For years, many Filipinos have suffered from TB. We all need to accelerate our efforts to end TB in the Philippines,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said during the National Coordinating Committee meeting on TB on Friday.
Duque added the government made the commitment to end TB in the country last year at the UN High-Level General Assembly in New York City.
“TB is curable, and together we can prevent thousands of preventable deaths from TB," Duque said.
The Philippines has a "high burden of tuberculosis" together with South Africa, India, and Indonesia compared to other countries, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) 2018 Global Tuberculosis Report.
The report said that in 2017, there were approximately 581,000 Filipinos diagnosed with active TB and 27,000 Filipinos have died of the disease. Worldwide, there were 1.3 million deaths recorded in the same year.
In a statement Sunday, the DOH said it signed a joint pledge of support with the WHO, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Global Fund "to take the Philippines off the list of countries with the highest TB burden in the world".
During the signing of the pledge, the WHO and the USAID assured the public that they would continue to provide strategic packages of technical assistance, supplies, and human resources to fast-track TB programming in the country.
"The U.S. government is also investing over PHP3 billion in projects that support the National Tuberculosis Control Program. Today, USAID is reaffirming our commitment to strengthen the capacity of the Department of Health to accelerate, scale up and sustain the TB response,” USAID Acting Mission Director Patrick Wesner said. (PNA)
