PASIG CITY, Sept. 8 (PIA) -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its TB Platforms Project, together with the Department of Health (DOH), recently handed over the “Tibay ng Dibdib,” a true-to-life children’s storybook and a coloring book version, about two young sisters who survived tuberculosis (TB).
The USAID told the PIA-NCR, the story is about two children who were diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) and drug susceptible tuberculosis (DSTB) in 2018 and completed their treatment last year. With unwavering support from their parents, the healthcare workers in Rogaciano Mercado Memorial Hospital (RMMH), and TB HEALS--a patient support group and their community, the children are now TB-free and currently enrolled in elementary school.
“We will always be grateful to our treatment partners led by the medical staff of RMMH. Thanks also to USAID, the hospital works with USAID in implementing the local TB program when we met them. Our family was one of those who were provided psychosocial counselling by TB HEALS and I will not forget how the TB Nurses and staff encouraged our children to be heartstrong as they engaged my husband and I to be hands-on in monitoring the treatment of our two daughters,” explained the mother of the TB survivors.
“Until now, I cannot believe how we were able to cope with those challenges. We are also grateful that the government provides free medicines for TB patients. I have talked to other families and they also say that access to free TB medicines is a big help to survive this disease,” she added.
USAID Philippines Office of Health Director Michelle Lang-Alli graced the online ceremony as she led the handover of the “Tibay ng Dibdib” storybook to #EndTB Ambassador for Local chief executives, Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando, who earlier this year accepted the challenge to make TB a priority agenda among local chief executives.
“Tibay ng Dibdib provides a solid example of Filipinos resilience. I have been working at USAID for less than a year but I have seen firsthand Filipinos’ ammazing strength. You have been resilient to the many challenges you’ve faced through the years. Environmental devastation, economic recession and even national health issues, including COVID-19 and TB,” Lang-Alli said.
Lang-Alli also expressed her delight to share the real story about the plight of one family with two daughters fighting two different TB cases at their very young ages of 2 and 7 years old.
She added that the storybook also features the partnership between the hospital and the community where the patients live. It highlights that each and every one in the community plays a major role for TB patients to submit themselves to diagnosis and complete their treatment.
“This is just one of the many victories that we want to share to the public – that TB is an infectious disease but it can be cured. It takes a whole village to support a TB patient but it can be done through partnerships,” she said.
For his part, DOH CHD-3 Director Cesar Cassion mentioned that two years ago, the United Nations General Assembly convened presidents and prime ministers at the first ever High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB.
\“The HLM concluded with UN member states’ approval of a concise and action-oriented political declaration on TB. Together, the commitments they formalized hold the power to catalyze the action we need to end this epidemic preying on society’s most vulnerable members: children. It is our hope that leaders can use their political power and resources to end the silent epidemic of TB among children,” Cassion said.
Casion also said TB in children and adolescents varies both clinically and epidemiologically, making care and prevention challenging.
“In children, tuberculosis is often difficult to diagnose because of non-specific symptoms and limited sensitivity and specificity of laboratory tests for both latent tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis disease. Children aged younger than 5 years are also more likely to progress to active tuberculosis disease after infection, and have the highest rates of severe, disseminated forms of tuberculosis such as meningitis, compared with older age groups. Adolescents aged 15–17 years are more likely to develop infectious forms of pulmonary tuberculosis than younger children,” Cassion added.
He also highlighted that children with TB rarely die when they receive effective treatment and the DOH CLCHD are grateful that there is strengthened collaboration among partners for TB response amid COVID-19.
Likewise, Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando in his speech mentioned that ending the child TB epidemic requires local interventions, sensitive to social and cultural context, to reach at-risk children using simple tools for active screening and diagnosis.
“Even in resource-limited areas, medical professionals can be equipped with the knowledge and tools to diagnose and treat TB in children, with access to care provided at the community level. This is my commitment as #EndTB Ambassador for local chief executives,” said Fernando.
The local chief executive also said that he will encourage more governors and mayors to appropriate annual budget for TB and create local councils who will oversee the implementation of TB programs down to the barangay level
“I am actually in quarantine because of COVID-19, but I do not want to miss this event. This is an honor for all of us here, including our Provincial Health Office who works doubly hard to find and treat our kababayans who are afflicted with TB. We are happy that PIA and the local media joined this advocacy. Without raising public awareness about TB our efforts cannot solve the problem. With PIA disseminating the story behind the “‘Tibay ng Dibdib” and how these children survived TB, we can reach millions of stakeholders and hopefully we can raise positive health seeking behavior,” Fernando added.
Meanwhile, the RMMH medical team was represented by Dr. Dave Rawland Domingo and Dr. Caroline Bernardo who expressed their gratitude to DOH and USAID for the recognition of given to the contribution of the health facility as well as the healthcare workers in ensuring sustainable TB diagnosis, care and treatment.
The USAID collaborated with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in line with raising public awareness on TB as a disease and how to access TB services in communities since the start of the COVID-19 community quarantine. PIA has been sharing inspiring stories about the journey of all stakeholders --- healthcare workers, TB patients and their families as well as TB champions in support of strengthening TB response amid COVID-19. (PIA-NCR)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
0 Comments