Herbosa wants PH out of Top 10 countries with most tuberculosis cases by end of term

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Tuesday said he is aiming to have the Philippines removed from the top 10 list of countries with the highest number of tuberculosis cases by the end of his term.

At a Palace briefing, Herbosa reiterated that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. directed him to address the tuberculosis problem in the Philippines, noting that around a million Filipinos are currently infected with the contagious disease that mainly affects the lungs.

“Ako, ang personal target ko (my personal target) if you ask me, is to get us out of the Top 10 by the end of my term. If I’m able to [get us] down by 11, I’ll be happy,” he said.

The Philippines is the fourth country that accounts for two-thirds of the estimated tuberculosis cases worldwide, according to Presidential Directives on Tuberculosis action officer Dr. Keziah Lorraine Rosario on Monday, citing the 2022 Global TB Report.

The Philippines is also one of the countries, next to India, Indonesia, Myanmar, that contribute to the estimated increasing number of tuberculosis deaths, she added.

Asked for his short-term goal in combating tuberculosis, Herbosa said he targets to find all Filipinos infected with the disease and have them finish the government’s TB-DOTS program.

“I’d like to find all TB cases, so active case finding, and treatment for all of [them] because it’s curable eh, so dapat walang mag-fallout…maging 0 ‘yung fallout, ma-complete nila ‘yung whole TB drug program,” he added.

(I'd like to find all TB cases, that’s active case finding, and give treatment for all of them because tuberculosis is curable. There should be no fallout or the fallout should be 0, and infected people should complete the whole TB drug program.)

Herbosa said that among the reasons he sees why there is a high number of tuberculosis cases in the country is due to the logistics and supply chain management, where the medicines are not being delivered promptly to the health centers and clinics.

“It’s an issue of supply chain delivery. The medicines are being bought for the estimated number of TB pero [but] from the warehouse to the centers, parang nadi-delay [it’s getting delayed],” he said.

“Hindi siya nagkukulang, nadi-delay ‘yung pag-deliver. I think, sometimes they are just in the warehouse and it’s not delivered to the clinics. So I think it can be solved simply with some logistics expert looking and making sure na nandoon, dumadating ‘yung drugs,” he added.

(The drugs are not lacking, the delivery is only delayed. I think, sometimes the drugs are just in the warehouse and they are not being delivered to the clinics. So I think it can be solved simply with some logistics expert looking at it and making sure that the drugs are there and they arrive at their respective places.)

The Health chief announced on Monday that the Department of Health (DOH) will implement a shorter treatment plan for tuberculosis — from six months down to four months — by the third quarter of 2023.

“We want to implement this short course four-month therapy by the 3rd quarter of 2023… The WHO has recommended us to adopt the four months treatment for regimen–which is a two months of certain list of drugs, and another two months of another set of drugs,” he said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News