75 Pinoys die of TB every day

MANILA, Philippines - Seventy-five Filipinos die of tuberculosis (TB) every day, making the disease still the number one threat to human health in the country, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) said.

PBSP media relations officer Mitchel Confesor said at least 90 people worldwide died of TB every day or an average of nine million people each year, 10 to 15 percent of whom are children.

The PBSP said the Philippines has ranked ninth among 22 high-burden nations for TB all over the world.

Representatives of the Department of Health, the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT), the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines Inc., the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center, and the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed these data during the recent observance of World TB Day in Metro Manila and Cebu late last month, capping this year’s commemoration of the event started in 1997.

Through the corporate-led PBSP as the principal recipient for its TB program, the international public-private partnership Global Fund to Fight AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), Tuberculosis and Malaria has aimed to sustain TB control and ensure access to comprehensive quality TB health care in the country.

In a forum in Cebu City, the PBSP said the project aims to reduce the prevalence, incidence, and mortality of TB beyond 50 percent after 2010 from a baseline established in 2000 to support the Millennium Development Goals for poverty alleviation.