Program Highlights Archive: Health

USAID Helps Intensify TB Prevention among Zamboanga Prison Inmates

A person with active but untreated tuberculosis (TB) can infect 10–15 other people per year, and in crowded living spaces like prisons, chances of transmitting TB is higher. In support of the Global Health Initiative, TB case finding and treatment among prison inmates in Zamboanga Peninsula was strengthened by the issuance and implementation of the Guidelines for the Management of TB in Prisons. With USAID assistance, the Department of Health through its Zamboanga Peninsula Center for Health Development trained 20 jail personnel region-wide and is helping them install referral systems between the jails and city and municipal health offices. This initiative will benefit over 250 prison facilities and almost 3,000 inmates. To date, 19 inmates have been diagnosed with TB and are currently undergoing treatment.

Radio Programs Bring Health Messages to Remote Communities in Muslim Mindanao

USG-supported radio programs on community health reach almost two million of the 3.2 million people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Produced by provincial and city health offices, the radio programs provide vital health information to mothers and caregivers even in the most remote communities. Apart from promoting healthy behaviors and practices, the radio programs are relaying information quickly to communities during disasters or disease outbreaks, especially in villages where the presence of health providers is limited due to conflict or security threats. USAID trained 22 health workers from Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Marawi City health offices on how to improve the radio program production and how to incorporate health messages into the programs better. The training will also be carried out to the rest of the ARMM provinces.

USAID Improved TB Detection Through “TB Patrols”

TB is the 10th leading cause of death and 11th leading cause of illness in Bulacan Province in Luzon. In order to improve TB detection, and in line with the Global Health Initiative, USAID supported community-based “TB Patrols”, which resulted in a 45 percent increase in the identification of tuberculosis (TB) cases and 40 percent treatment completion of TB patients over one year. The TB Patrols – groups of volunteers who raise community awareness, identify and refer people with TB symptoms, and serve as treatment partners for TB patients – were so successful in improving TB detection and treatment that the Governor of Bulacan decided to expand the pilot model to the entire province of 2.8 million people.

USAID Brings Family Planning to Remote Islands in Mindanao

Muslim women, mostly from remote island villages, have long wanted to practice family planning but did not have access to services. In support of the Global Health Initiative, USAID-trained Community Health Action Teams conducted group sessions in Tawi Tawi villages to provide the mothers with complete information on all family planning methods and referred interested clients to the rural health midwives for counseling.

Health and Nutrition Posts Providing Health Services in Remote Villages

The lack of accessible health facilities has been a continuing challenge especially in remote villages in Mindanao, where the nearest Barangay (village) Health Stations are often several kilometers away. USAID responded by organizing Community Health Action Teams (CHATs). In Mipantao Gadongan, Marawi City, volunteer members in partnership with local village officials constructed a Health and Nutrition Post, which gives valuable health services such as immunization, prenatal care, family planning, and health education to about 800 villagers. Eight of the 30 CHATs organized in Marawi City have constructed Health and Nutrition Posts in far-flung villages to address the lack of health facilities.