World Vision launches volunteers against TB
As the nation celebrates lung month this August, World Vision will be launching a new group of volunteers who vowed to continue to fight tuberculosis (TB) in the country that currently ranks 9th globally for having the highest number of cases of the deadly disease.
Through its Social Mobilization on Tuberculosis (SMT) Project, World Vision will be introducing and recognizing the newly organized TB Task Forces through various local activities in its new 9 project sites. These areas include Caloocan, Paranaque, San Pablo, Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, General Santos, and Zamboanga City.
The task forces are community volunteers, ordinary villagers, who will be giving their time and effort without receiving any monetary incentive in identifying TB cases in the communities, and in serving as a treatment partner to TB patients.
"I am glad that World Vision is still part of this project because their previous project, Kusog Baga, had high achievements when it was formed in 1992. I hope that World Vision will continue to guide advocacy strategies for this new project," remarked Director IV Jaime Lagahid of the Department of Health's Infectious Diseases Office.
At present, the Philippines continues to be in the watch list of the World Health Organization (WHO) of countries having high TB burden in the world and it ranks 3rd among the countries in the Western Pacific Region.
According to DOH, the disease remains to be the 6th leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the country and is still the major cause of death among children.
To help in addressing the alarming rate of TB in the country, World Vision implemented the SMT Project, a project funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM) whose unique approach in TB prevention and control in the country is by mobilizing communities in fighting TB.
It trains TB task forces to identify people with TB symptoms for referral to public health facilities, to act as treatment partners, to conduct health education in villages, and to conduct TB awareness activities in the community to increase demand for TB services.
TB awareness activities of task forces take various creative forms such as puppet shows, float parades, community drama, pageants, mall exhibits, TB classes in villages, election-style parade, sticker campaigns, and even created their own community TB radio program. Others began organizing children-led TB task forces to encourage children's participation in TB prevention and control.
One of its volunteers is Perfecto Cacho, an amputee and purok leader from Zambales, who had been working as a TB Task Force member since March 2006.
"I volunteered in the project because I know that this will greatly help in improving the health of the people," he said, "I will continue to be part of this project as long as I can and as long as I am healthy."
Since 2003, the project had been organizing and training TB task forces in communities nationwide to assist the country's National TB Control Program (NTP) in increasing the number of TB cases discovered and cured, and to increase the demand for TB treatment and services. At present, there are already 270 TB Task Forces organized by World Vision nationwide.