Article I
Title of the Ordinance
Section 1. Title. This Ordinance shall be known as the “Ordinance Adopting the Tuberculosis Control Program in the Municipality of Urbiztondo, Pangasinan”.
Sec. 2. Objective. This Ordinance aims to institute, establish and localize a comprehensive and sustainable LGU response and commitment towards TB elimination as espoused by the TB Law and to help the country achieve the Philippine Strategic TB Elimination Plan (PhilSTEP) targets.
Article II
Declaration of Policy
Sec. 3. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared that the Municipality joins the National Government in instituting health reforms to eliminate TB anchored on the mandates, provisions and recommendations of the NTP, TB Law and UHC. Equally important measures to be undertaken by the Municipality to further scale up TB elimination efforts include the following to wit:
a. Promote better awareness and intensify community education on TB that includes but not limited to TB as top infectious killer disease in the world that leads of killing people with HIV and a major cause of deaths related to anti-microbial resistance; 70 Filipinos die of TB everyday (as per disclosed by the Department of Health, the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT), the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines Inc., the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center, and the World Health Organization (WHO)); modes of transmission, high risks groups, consequences of self-medication, non- adherence to DOTS and/or failure to complete treatment/control and prevention and socio- economic impact;
b. Organize and mobilize multi-sectoral stakeholders from the public and private sectors and development partners to support and actively support;
c. Organize Patient Support Groups (PSG) where TB patients either undergoing treatment or cured are recognized as vital source of information in educating the community by utilizing their experience to inform the public about the disease and encourage presumptive TB patients to seek care and treatment;
d. Develop an annual TB plan with specific budget allocations based on needs assessment and the prevailing TB situation particularly on following but not limited to TB medicines, laboratory supplies and other supplies, human resource, capacity building, which will be incorporated in the Annual Operation Plan;
e. Address all kinds and forms of discrimination and stigma against individuals afflicted with TB and provide equal opportunities in employment;
f. Adopt and implement the Find TB Cases Actively, Separate Safety and Treat effectively (FAST Strategy) in RHU and BHW, public hospitals and expansion to private hospitals and facilities deemed necessary to intensify case-finding efforts and ensure that infection prevention control is observed;
g. Adopt and implement e-health innovations and digital platforms such as Connec TB to further strengthen observance of IPC monitoring of TB patients particularly on the compliance and adherence to DOTS;
