TB prevalent in Tondo – Garin

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin warned yesterday that 1,280 people are inflicted with turberculosis (TB) in Tondo, Manila.

Garin, a former secretary of the Department of Health (DOH), asked the public to take extra precautions.

She said that doctors’ group Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) has diagnosed 1,280 residents with TB in Tondo, Manila.

“This is alarming. The government must take action against the increasing number of tuberculosis in the country,” Garin said.

She cited that such was also seen in Iloilo during the Bantay Kalusugan, a medical mission initiated by Garin.

Amid the increasing number of TB cases, Garin expressed concern as the medicines for TB are always out of stock in public medical facilities, which leads to inaccessible health care.

“It is alarming that we have a shortage of medicine for this kind of illness. Right distribution and a proper system in the distribution of medicine is needed to ensure that each Filipino can get the necessary medicine,” Garin said, emphasizing that such disease is preventable and curable.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that approximately 10.8 million individuals worldwide contracted TB in 2023.

Based on data of the US Agency for International Development, the estimated TB incidence in the Philippines in 2021 was 741,000.

An estimate of 61,000 people have died from the disease.