PINATUTUTUKAN ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa Department of Health (DOH) ang kampanya laban sa human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at tuberculosis infections bukod sa COVID-19.

“Let’s start refocusing again on the general public health concerns. Siyempre COVID has not come away. [We] still have to deal with it but let’s not deal with COVID to the… at the expense of all these other public health concerns,” sabi ng Pangulo.

Sa isang pagpupulong, natanong ng Pangulo si DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire kaugnay ng TB-DOTS program ng ahensya at ang kampanya upang wakasan ang TB sa bansa.

Ayon kay Vergeire mayroong mga bagong primary care program ng DOH at kasama dito ang TB-DOTS.

Sinabi ni Vergeire na nagiging multi-drug resistant na ang TB.

“So, for example, they have prescriptions that will be given by doctors who just need them… medicines for just one, two months, they will not finish their medicines and they become resistant,” sabi in Vergeire.

Inamin naman ng DOH-OIC na naapektuhan ng COVID-19 pandemic ang mga programa ng gobyerno laban sa HIV.

“People were not able to go for screening, were not able to get their medicines because of the lockdown, so what we did during the time of pandemic, we were already sending per individual or per patient ‘yung kanilang mga gamot through LBC para lang makainom sila ng gamot,” dagdag pa ni Vergeire.

Sinabi ni Vergeire na nakikipag-ugnayan ang DOH sa mga mambabatas at judiciary upang malabanan ang stigma at diskriminasyon na isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit mayroong mga natatakot na magpakonsulta kahit nakararanas na ang sintomas ng HIV.