Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto hosted the World TB Day celebration, urged everyone to work as partners in eradicating TB in the country: “The fight against TB is not the fight of the infected person only, but the fight of the whole community.”
by Leony R. Garcia
The Philippines recently received from the TB Champion award from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during the national World Tuberculosis Day 2015 celebration in Batangas City. World TB Day is celebrated on March 24 every year.
USAID, the US government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid, commended the Philippines for its outstanding work in the fight against tuberculosis, which kills 23,000 Filipinos annually.
The DOH estimates that 430,000 Filipinos have active TB and 8,500 have multidrug-resistant TB. The DOH’s strong leadership through policy support, technical guidance, and the provision of critically needed anti-TB drugs has enabled the Philippines to achieve – three years ahead of the 2015 deadline – the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets of reducing by half TB prevalence and mortality rates from the 1990 baseline.
Department of Health Secretary (DOH) Janette L. Garin received the award from Gloria D. Steele, USAID Mission Director/Philippines and the Pacific Islands.
“World TB Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate our successes. Each year, USAID recognizes TB Champions for their leadership and for accelerating progress towards the goal of ending TB. Tuberculosis affects people in their most productive years, hindering them to go to school or to work, and crippling families and community, perpetuating the cycle of poverty,” said Steele.
“The fight against tuberculosis continues for us,” Garin responded. “The need to step up and embolden our efforts beyond 2015 and beyond the Millennium Development Goals has now become even more necessary. We look forward to zero TB deaths, zero TB disease, and zero sufferings due to tuberculosis.”
Nearly a thousand TB advocates and health providers representing government agencies, non-government organizations, schools, jails and prisons, pharmaceutical companies, medical and professional societies, and TB-DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course) facilities joined this year’s World TB Day celebration in a show of commitment to reach, treat, and cure all TB cases.
Dr. Jose Hesron Morfe, national chair of the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis, which led the World TB Day activities, called for “increased community awareness and stronger political and social commitment to pursue TB control through early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.”
Gov. Vi who is also showbiz’s Star for All Seasons is an advocate of healthy lifestyle and wellness. Herself, a health and beauty enthusiast, urged everyone to work as partners in eradicating TB in the country.
