PASIG CITY, July 26 (PIA) – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its TB Platforms Project, in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) recently launched a webinar series dubbed “Training of Trainers on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program’s (NTP) Manual of Procedures (MOP).”
The webinar is the first of a series for provincial health officers, hospital chiefs and advocacy partners that introduces and cascades the policy changes and revisions on the 6th edition of NTP MOP.
USAID’s TB Platforms collaborated with DOH Communicable Disease Cluster Head Dr. Maria Eloisa Vidar and NTP Regional Nurse Coordinator Ms. Geliza Recede for the conduct of the webinar.
During the webinar, Dr. Christian Villacorte, USAID’s TB Platforms MDRTB and Patient-Centered Care Specialist, comprehensively explained the revised NTP Manual to online participants.
USAID’s TB Platforms Chief of Party Dr. Marianne Calnan expressed her gratitude to DOH and all implementing partners. She cited that the project continues to provide remote mentoring to all its partners as part of its technical assistance to DOH National Tuberculosis Control Program for the continuous provision of TB treatment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The webinar was hosted by Jonathan Yambao, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of USAID’s TB Platforms, Dayne Wiyne Duruin, PMDT Technical Officer of PBSP AccessTB and Jehan Journey Ocampo, Regional Project Officer-TBCP, PBSP AccessTB.
Recently, USAID’s TB Platforms rolled out its regional media outreach to promote how the project works with local government units, health facilities and TB champions in strengthening TB response and encouraging public-private partnerships for both TB and COVID-19. 
The Philippines has joined the race to end TB globally even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the Philippine Government committed during the UN High Level Meeting to find and treat 2.5 million Filipinos with TB from 2017-2022. USAID’s TB Platforms is collaborating with DOH in Central Luzon in the implementation of TB services since 2018.
According to DOH, in the past five years, various innovative strategies, breakthroughs in laboratory tools, and treatment regimens have been introduced globally as part of the End TB Strategy.
The Philippines has adopted some of these changes with the issuance of various technical policies on case finding and case holding thru administrative orders and department memoranda that aims to update the 5th edition.
The revision to the 6th edition NTP MOP consolidates all new policies and procedures on TB case finding and case holding and also introduces a shift in program approach towards a more responsive and patient-centered care.
The revised MOP with its bold and radical shift in policies and procedures is a statement that the country is willing to make these dramatic changes to contribute towards ending TB. (PIA-NCR)
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