In the Philippines’ Subic municipality (population 112,000), TB has remained a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. To address this, USAID collaborated with the Department of Health and the local government unit to intensify community awareness of TB, improve health seeking behavior, and actively find TB cases.
In January 2022, the municipality declared every first Thursday of the month as Lung Health Day, with the aim to raise public awareness about TB and increase TB detection through the integration of screening activities in other medical services available to the public. As part of its support, USAID provided a van equipped with an ultra-portable digital X-ray with computer-aided detection (CAD) technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) functionalities to screen targeted groups at higher risk for TB, including health care workers, tricycle operators, drivers, and LGBTQI+ individuals.
Over four consecutive months, of the total individuals with bacteriologically confirmed TB, one person was diagnosed for every 54 people screened. The targeted group screenings yielded a higher rate, with one person diagnosed for every 29 people screened. This is just one of the many examples of active case finding efforts contributing to the Philippines’ 36 percent increase in TB case notifications from 2021 to 2022.
