MANILA, Philippines – Minimizing the number of reported TB cases is not necessarily “good news” because it is a direct effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
“We see this as a direct effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on a critical program for prevention and diseases like tuberculosis,” Duque said in a DOH statement.
“Our purpose for our TB program is to find and treat as many TB instances as possible. Only through the location and treatment of these instances can we restrict the spread and realize our dream of the TB of the Philippines,” Duque added.
Duke added that pandemic quarantine has hampered DOH’s efforts to find and treat TB instances in fitness facilities and communities.
The National Tuberculosis Program (PNN) recorded a drop of approximately 20% in the number of instances from February to March: 30,728 instances in February and 24,782 in March.
The DOH, on the other hand, encouraged patients enrolled in the treatment of tuberculosis in government services to protect their source of TB drugs for one month, as TB patients have a greater threat of coronavirus.
Last year, the World Health Organization reported that about 591,000 Filipinos had TB, or 6% of the 10 million TB cases worldwide. (Jim Mendoza, intern)
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