THE United States government and the Health Department announced additional funding to combat the persistent threat of tuberculosis (TB) in the Philippines.
This will be through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Health (DOH), with a budget of P1.15 billion, or $21 million.
With more than 737,000 estimated new TB cases in 2022, the Philippines has one of the highest burdens of TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
USAID Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources Paloma Adams-Allen and Undersecretary Lilibeth David, who is the DOH’s current chief of staff, jointly led the ceremonial signing of the partnership at the TB Active Case Finding Summit in Manila on March 21. The additional funding consists of P550 million ($10 million) from the aid agency and private-sector partners for the “Support Wide-scale Interventions To Find TB (SWIF-TB)” initiative, and a matching pledge by DOH worth P605 million ($11 million).
Through SWIF-TB, USAID and its partners will help expand ongoing efforts of local nongovernment organizations and private-sector partners in fighting TB, such as providing payment vouchers for early TB screening; utilizing advanced technologies in TB testing; enhancing the ability of health advocates to find cases and support survivors; increasing the use of TB preventive treatment; as well as integrating TB screening with the testing of other lung diseases, HIV, and diabetes. These efforts will help screen at least a million Filipinos for TB and ensure proper treatment of those afflicted.
“This is not just a funding opportunity—it is a call to action. 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,” Adams-Allen said.
“The [DOH] stands firm in its dedication. To this end, we are pledging the government’s matching amount of around $11 million to strengthen primary health-care services, enhance capacities, and fortify infrastructure. Our goal is to accelerate universal access to TB care, leaving no one behind,” David said.
The Philippines and Ethiopia were the only two countries selected to receive SWIF-TB funding. WHO’s “2023 Global TB Report” estimates that 106 Filipinos die of TB daily.
“Together, the Philippine government and USAID will amplify existing efforts, implement innovative case-finding strategies, expand preventative therapies, and ensure that everyone, especially the most vulnerable, has access to the care and treatment they need,” Adams-Allen remarked. “We will ensure that community health workers are paid a fair wage, another innovation under this critical project.”
SWIF-TB aims to help achieve the target set by the United Nations to find and treat 2.1 million TB cases in the Philippines by 2027. As the world’s largest bilateral TB donor, USAID has invested more than P260 billion ($4.7 billion) in combating TB since 2000, saving more than 75 million lives globally since 2000.