Greater private sector participation in TB drive - The Philippines, Daily Tribune, 19 Feb 2020

BUSINESS Greater private sector participation in TB drive TDT Published 1 day ago on February 19, 2020 03:00 AMBy TDT

Representatives from the Department of Health-National TB Control Program (DoH-NTP), Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), and Bureau of International Health Cooperation (BIHC) discuss how the private sector can participate in the TB control program at the Forum on Increasing Private Sector Participation in TB Control at the Sheraton Manila Bay Hotel in Malate, Manila. From left are Dr. Anna Marie Celina Garfin, DoH-NTP manager; Dr. Mar Wynn Bello, BIHC OIC-director; Dr. Jehremias Florante, DoLE OSHC Occupational Health officer and Jerome Daclison, PBSP Grant Management and Implementation director. /photograph courtesy of Pbsp

Philippine Business for Social Progress, through its Advancing Client-centered Care and Expanding Sustainable Services for TB (ACCESS TB) Project, recently organized a forum on increasing private sector participation in tuberculosis (TB) programs.

At the forum, Urban Weber, Head of High Impact Asia Department of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, presented the TB situation in the country and emphasized the importance of private sector in the TB control program.

“Private sector needs to recognize the importance of commitment to tuberculosis response. This should go beyond the private medical sector. It should go into companies that have the huge workforce and they should respond by placing programs within their workplaces, “Weber said.

The forum provided the platform on how the private sector can contribute to the TB care and prevention of the National TB Control Program. This is in light of the country’s goal to diagnose, notify, and treat 2.5 million people with TB through public and private sector engagements.

Read full article HERE