U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) Michael Klecheski and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched two five-year projects valued at more than 2.5 billion pesos to support the Philippines’ goal to end tuberculosis (TB).

TB Innovations, implemented by Family Health International 360, and TB Platforms, implemented by the University Research Corporation, aim to find and cure more TB cases in the country by supporting the Department of Health’s National TB Control Program and local government units to enhance TB prevention and treatment measures. The projects will expand access to state-of-the-art TB detection technologies and encourage high-risk populations to seek and complete necessary TB treatment.

Approximately 1 million people in the Philippines currently have active TB, and many do not know they have the disease. Although TB is curable, at least 60 Filipinos die from the disease every day. TB can result in catastrophic costs to households and causes billions of pesos in economic losses in the Philippines each year.

“Eradicating TB in the Philippines is a crucial step for the country to achieve its development goals,” said CDA Klecheski. “The U.S. government will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Philippine government to end TB.”

CDA Klecheski launched the projects alongside Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and DSWD Assistant Secretary Glenda de Rama Relova. The event, which coincided with National Lung Month, drew more than 500 people and included free TB screenings and educational activities to teach local residents about how to maintain healthy lungs.

“Our partnership with DSWD and USAID energizes the Department of Health’s work to provide equitable access to quality TB care and help alleviate poverty in our country.” said Department of Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III.

During the event, the Department of Health and Department of the Social Welfare and Development also launched the integration of the TB module into the DSWD Family Development Sessions. These sessions will include health education classes on TB prevention, control, care, and treatment for recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the Philippine government’s conditional cash transfer program.

These new USAID projects bring the total U.S. government contribution in support of DOH’s National Tuberculosis Control Program to over Php6.5 billion. As a result of the U.S.-Philippine partnership, the number of TB patients diagnosed and treated in the Philippines has more than doubled since 2006.