"Stop TB: Kaya Mo, Kaya Ko"

The 2008 World TB Day festivities held at the Marikina Sports Complex marked the Philippines’ numerous accomplishments and successes against tuberculosis.

It was commemorated by about 3,000 representatives from the private and public sectors and organizations responsive to tuberculosis care, top health and government officials, and patients who successfully recovered from the said disease, among others.

The theme, “Stop TB: Kaya Mo, Kaya Ko (You and I can do it)” takes its cue from this year’s worldwide “I am stopping TB” campaign to address the global emergency that is tuberculosis. It enjoins the participation of every Filipino in the effort to help alleviate the spread of the disease and increase the chances of its cure in the country.

Spearheaded by the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT), the program went underway with a motorcade from two points in Marikina City, the local government unit co-hosting this year’s World TB Day celebration. It was followed by musical segments, an interpretative prayer and singing of the National Anthem to kick-off the proceedings.

Mayor Ma. Lourdes C. Fernando of Marikina City formally welcomed the anti-TB community on-hand and forged a “pact” between them and her constituents to the cause of halting the disease.

Emphasizing the important role of the private sector in the nationwide initiative to combat TB, PhilCAT National Chair Dr Ma Imelda Quelapio pointed out in her welcome address that in the midst of recent success in program implementation, there is a need to address challenges such as multidrug-resistant (MDR-) and extremely drug-resistant or XDR-TB. She noted that PhilCAT will take this challenge head-on to unify efforts between the private and public sector of ridding the country from TB.

Currently on treatment for MDR-TB, TB survivor Gloria Bulayong personified the effectiveness of the current TB program in place by narrating her story of coping the grueling process of treatment. She now commits her efforts to help in the advocacy against TB. She was joined on-stage by a group of other patients afflicted with TB.

World Health Organization (WHO) Philippine Medical Officer Dr Michael Voniatis noted that the Philippines has every reason to celebrate World TB Day as it was able to achieve and sustain the global targets through the implementation of the Public-Private Mix DOTS (PPMD), other anti-TB initiatives of the government and those of various organizations. Dr Voniatis likewise commended the national commemoration of World TB Day as “quite impressive” as it involved a wide range of participants, including the Barangay (local village) Health Workers who are front liners in the implementation of the anti-TB efforts at the grass root level. He cited PhilCAT’s dynamic presence not only in organizing the World TB Day celebration but in local endeavors to address TB as a whole.

Top officials on-hand also recognized winning elementary and high school students from Marikina City in a poster making contest who worked around the event theme.

Dr Yolanda Oliveros, MPH, Director of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, introduced the event’s keynote speaker, Secretary of Health Dr Francisco Duque, who acknowledged the valuable contributions of each individual and organization who have worked hard in addressing TB. He reported the crucial efforts recently undertaken by the government to set directions for the national TB program, such as increasing the health budget to combat TB and ensuring that patients receive necessary medications, allocating and purchasing TB medicines and laboratory supplies in DOTS Centers, as well as for monitoring, capacity-building and advocacy efforts. He stressed that PhilCAT, as before and always, will be at the forefront of the Filipinos’ fight to make their nation TB-free.

The event was capped-off with a press conference with members of the local media at the nearby-Marikina City Hall attended by the aforementioned officials, as well as Dr Thelma Tupasi of the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc. and a representative of fully recuperated TB patients.

Elsewhere in the Philippines, PhilCAT, through 16 RCCs or regional coordinating committees for PPMD, organized World TB Day celebrations in key cities and towns with motorcades, TB forums, testimonials and entertainment participated-in by various stakeholders such as local government officials, health authorities, health workers, local coalitions and the community. Guest speakers emphasized the usage of DOTS and early detection, free medication, follow-up care, maintaining high levels of cure rates as essential to stop TB.