Batangas creates body to fight TB
BATANGAS CITY — Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto on Wednesday led the awarding of local government units (LGUs) that performed the best in detecting cases of tuberculosis in her province-wide goals to finally eradicate the disease, which remains as one of the leading causes of deaths among Filipinos.
The governor also led the signing of a provincial government executive order creating a multi-stakeholder council of public-private partnership with various committees from different municipalities affirming their commitment to make the entire Batangas TB-free.
The council was created with the technical assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Linking Initiatives and Networking to Control TB (TB LINC) implemented by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).
Among those recognized were LGUs that performed high in case finding and case holding of TB cases and individuals involved in “external quality assessment in sputum microscopy.”
During the awarding ceremony at Hotel Ponte Fino here on Wednesday afternoon, the mayors of San Juan, Lobo, and Balayan towns were recognized for being the most supportive local chief executives, primarily based on the event theme of stopping “TB in my lifetime.”
Newly-installed regional health officer Dr. Edgardo Gonzaga of Region 4A (Calabarzon) and TB LINC chief of party Dr. Dolores Castillo expressed their full support for the goal of a TB-free Batangas.
Dr. Gonzaga also consulted with municipal health officers in the province and took immediate action on how to make the newly-issued executive order of Gov. Santos-Recto more operational in the province.
The executive order said Batangas would be committed to control TB “by ensuring the availability of sustained resources for TB control and management activities through standardized treatment regimen, recording and reporting of TB cases, and instituting directly observed treatment.”
With the provincial governor as chair of the “Batangas Tuberculosis-Free Provincial Multipartite Council,” the EO further identified the president of the Batangas chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Phils. (LMP) as vice-chair.
Council members include provincial planning and health officials, as well as representatives from TB LINC and private groups, community and faith-based organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies like the departments of health, social welfare and development, and interior and local government.
Other representatives are from a league of government nurses, an association of midwives, a barangay federation of health workers, the local association of municipal health officers, and other municipal and private hospitals associations.
The EO said the council’s interim policies and guidelines for provincial management and implementation of TB care would be according to the Philippine Plan of Action to Control TB (PhilPACT) and the International Standards on TB Care (ISTC).
In her keynote message, Gov. Santos-Recto said Batangas would aim to eventually become TB-free just as it earlier aimed to be malaria-free among its provincial health advocacies.