TB cases 'more alarming' than emerging COVID variants, says DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said that the spread of tuberculosis (TB) is a bigger concern than the emergence of new COVID-19 strains.

DOH Spokesperson Undersecretary Albert Domingo explained that illnesses such as TB are airborne and spread much faster in populated areas.

“Wala siyang pinipiling mayaman, mahirap, lahat… Ang good news, merong gamot sa TB. Kaya natin mag-detect. Merong gamot at tumatalab yung gamot. Ang medyo challenge lang kasi yung inuman ng gamot from as short as 4 months to as long as 9 months, depende dun sa pasyente,” he shared.

(It doesn’t choose between the rich and the poor; it affects all of us… The good news is that there is medicine for TB. We can detect it. There is medicine, and it works. The challenging part is that the medication would have to last from as short as 4 months to as long as 9 months, depending on the patient.)

The statement comes after the DOH signed a partnership with the U.S. Department of State to strengthen TB detection and treatment in the Philippines.

The partnership included the turnover of enough TB medicine for 230,000 patients, as well as 12 ultraportable X-ray machines.

Domingo noted that the Philippines also received an estimated USD$120 million from the Philippine Country Coordinating Mechanism (PCCM) Global Fund in treating TB, HIV, and malaria.

“Susundin natin yung prevalence o yung sinasabing disease burden [sa distribution of resources]… Kung nasaan pinakamarami ang tuberculosis, at kung saan malaki ang populasyon, nandoon yung malaking hawaan,” he said.

(We will follow the prevalence, or what we call the disease burden [in the distribution of resources]… Whichever area has the highest cases of tuberculosis and whichever has the highest population would have the highest cases of infection.)

DOH has recorded more than 100,000 tuberculosis (TB) cases in Metro Manila as of February 2026.

The health department has pushed for early screening to avoid the spread of active TB. —VAL, GMA News