Tuberculosis (TB)

The Philippines

Challenges of the community-based approach

COUNTRY FACTS

  - Percentage of TB patients cured: 83.9%
  - Percentage of MDR-TB in new TB cases: 4.0%
  - Percentage of XDR-TB patients among all drug-resistant TB cases: 4.6%

Uncommon care

Dr Maria Tarcela Gler talks to her patients at the International Center for Tuberculosis in Manila, Philippines.
WHO/Dominic Chavez

Dr Maria Tarcela Gler looked out over the room of revellers – most of them her multidrug-resistant TB (MDR -TB ) patients. More than 80 were celebrating Christmas, playing games, singing and enjoying a holiday lunch. These were her “smear-negative” patients – no longer infectious after weeks or months of treatment.

Dr Thelma E. Tupasi is Director of the International Center for Tuberculosis in Manila.
  • Interview: Dr Thelma E. Tupasi
    Dr Tupasi, an infectious disease specialist, founded the Tropical Diseases Foundation, the Manila-based non-profit group, and remains its executive director. The group provides services free-of-charge to patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at the International Center for Tuberculosis. She discussed her experiences in an interview at the foundation.
Cover of the book

COUNTRY STORIES

PERSPECTIVES

BACKGROUND