Health Secretary Ted Herbosa has sounded the alarm over the rise in cases of tuberculosis in the Philippines. The cases in the country reached 612,534 last year.
Herbosa said that the DOH recorded 549 tuberculosis cases in 100,000 population, higher than the 439 cases per 100,000 population in 2022.
“For a period of five years, we’ve actually identified about 2.1 million cases—short of our target of 2.5 million. As of December 31, 2023, our new cases numbered 612,534,” said Herbosa.
The DOH chief also reported that 10,426 people died due to tuberculosis or other complications.
“My target is not eliminating TB because that’s impossible during my term up to 2028 but I’m going to make sure that every person with pulmonary TB gets the medicine and does not die from tuberculosis,” said Herbosa.
The DOH also hopes to remove the Philippines from the list of countries with high cases of TB in the world.
Herbosa said that the delay in the delivery of medicines for tuberculosis also hampers their efforts in eliminating TB.
Symptoms for TB include prolonged cough, chest pain, fatigue, fever, and weight loss.
