Papua New Guinea Study Tour on Drug-Resistant TB
Management in the Philippines
Organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Disease Prevention Bureau (DCPB) of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF), sixteen delegates from Papua New Guinea (PNG) consisting of TB program managers and technical officers held a study tour in the Philippines last 25-29 September 2023. The main objective of the study tour was to learn from the successful PMDT experience in Philippines especially in light of the introduction and roll-out of the new WHO recommendations on MDR-TB management including BPaLM/BPaL regimen and best practices such as the specimen transportation mechanism through the STRIDers. The DPCB was represented by Dr. Raffy Deray, and his team, WHO (Philippine office) was represented by Dr. Clarissa Halum.
The team visited the DOH, WHO country office and WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL), TDF, Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), KASAKA (Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc.) where they also met with officers of TB People Philippines and several iDOTS facilities where they made courtesy calls and were provided with presentations and facility tour by focal points orienting them on the roles and activities of each facility visited. The last day of the visit was spent on country planning where each focal component representative (e.g., Policy and partnerships, Laboratory, Clinical Management including active TB drug safety monitoring and management (aDSM), Drug supply and management, Monitoring and Supervision, and advocacy and patient) shared lessons learned from the field visits and presented their action plan on improving TB program initiatives especially PMDT.
“We have learnt a lot of things and we have taught our colleagues from DOH here some things too. We have met and made new friends that we can build on for professional and personal journeys into the future” - Dr Sibauk Vivaldo Bieb, Executive Manager - Public Health, NDOH , said in his speech. Dr. Margaret Kal, TB Program Manager, and Dr. Robin Yasi, PMDT Focal Point, both affirm their appreciation to the Philippine Team.
On the other hand, and speaking on behalf of the local counterparts, Dr Mamel Quelapio, LIFT-TB Consultant, expressed appreciation for choosing the Philippines as a study tour site and hope that the visit will have successful impact on PNG TB program. She further looks forward to a continued productive collaboration in the future. TB Alliance Senior Manager for Market Access congratulated all the participants from both PNG and the Philippines for the collaboration.
This activity is the first-of-its-kind and is envisioned to be a model for potential future collaborations with other countries. TDF thanks all counterparts, local and international, who were involved in the planning and execution of this significant endeavour.
LIFT-TB is supported by TB Alliance, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, International Tuberculosis Research Center, and the Tropical Disease Foundation.
Country planning session in WHO-WPRO with guidance from local counterparts