Armm eyes adoption of executive order curbing TB

AUTONOMOUS Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) officer-in-charge Governor Mujiv Hataman is set to adopt Executive Order (EO) 187, Series of 2003, instituting the Comprehensive and Unified Policy (Cups) for Tuberculosis Control in the region.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem wherein the Philippines ranked 9th among the 22 high burden countries in the world.

TB is the sixth among the 10 leading causes of mortality in the country with 26,588 deaths at a mortality rate of 31.2 per 100,000 population in 2010.

TB ranks fifth among the 10 leading causes of deaths with 141 deaths and a mortality rate of 40 per 100,000 population in 2010 in Armm, according to Armm Health Secretary Kadil Sinolinding.

In the recently held Partners Meeting and Strategic Planning of the Regional Coordinating Council for the Philippine Plan of Action to Control TB, spearheaded by the Department of Health (DOH), a situationer of the current TB cases and control programs was assessed in line with the foregoing concern.

“Sa kabuuan, mababa pa ang case detection sa Armm, maraming kaso pa ang dapat mapagtuunan lalo na sa mga malalayong lugar. Paiigtingin pa ang pagpapalaganap ng kaalaman at angkop na mga materyales para tuluyang masugpo ang nakakahawang karamdamang ito,” Dr. Dolores Castillo, TB-Linking Initiatives on Networking to Control Tuberculosis (TB-LINC) said.

Conversely, the espousal of CUPS as the LGU implementation guidelines for the comprehensive and unified policy for the tuberculosis control in the Armm will be adopted to disseminate the concept and principles of EO 187, its prescribe guidelines, procedures and standards for implementation, and to facilitate compliance among local government units (LGUs) in achieving the objectives of the issuance.

Meanwhile, Sinolinding has urged the health advocates and program stakeholders to perk up zeal and be responsible with basic responsibilities especially among the grassroots.

“We had the obligation and the capacity to respond on the calling, we are empowered to serve, to inform, and to educate,” Sinolinding said.

The Health Reform Framework through the Armm-HELPS of Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance and Synergy program of the Hataman Administration prioritizes responsive health system by improving health service delivery and access, tantamount with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and President Aquino’s Universal Health Care Agenda. (Bong Garcia)