Philippines, US allot P1.15 billion to fight TB

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, through the Department of Health (DOH), and the United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have teamed up to finance a P1.15-billion campaign against tuberculosis (TB) in the country.

Citing a report of the World Health Organization (WHO), the US embassy said the Philippines has one of the highest cases of TB worldwide, with 737,000 new cases recorded in 2022.    

DOH Undersecretary Lilibeth David and USAID deputy administrator for management and resources Paloma Adams-Allen led the ceremonial signing of the partnership at the TB Active Case Finding summit in Manila on Thursday.

The US embassy said $10 million or P550 million would come from the USAID and private sector partners for the Support Wide-scale Interventions to Find TB (SWIF-TB) initiative and P605 million from the DOH.

Through SWIF-TB, USAID and its partners will help expand ongoing efforts of local non-government organizations and private sector partners in fighting TB.

“This is not just a funding opportunity. It is a call to action,” Allen said. ”Combating tuberculosis demands a unified effort from the entire society, including civil society, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. We are proud to partner with the Philippines to combat TB.”

The Philippines and Ethiopia are the only countries selected to receive SWIF-TB funding as the WHO’s 2023 Global TB Report estimates 106 Filipinos die of TB every day.

 As the world’s largest bilateral TB donor, USAID has invested more than P260 billion to combat TB since 2000.