TB Drug Budget 1997 - 2002
- Strong Advocacy to Congress to appropriate budget
- Equivalent to $20 per case
Notes:
The Department of Health (DOH) has been implementing a National TB Control Program since 1978. In 1987, the government invested millions of pesos to strengthen it. Short Course Chemotherapy drugs for TB patients were procured in bulk and distributed by DOH. For the last five years, there were about 160,000 to 280,000 TB cases discovered annually.
The Government budget reflected as TB Budget refers to the fixed cost of TB drugs and supplies like reagents. There are other costs for TB Control for training, monitoring, etc… but these are variable and are sourced out from other regular government funds or from outside donors/partners.
There is an increasing budget for TB drugs and supplies as shown in the graph. These are absolute figures based on targeted number of cases. Cases are targeted based on previous accomplishments and goals of program. The final amount reflected are those charged to government funds excluding assistance from other sources.
In 2001, for example, cost of drugs for 10,000 cases in the National Capital Region was provided by World Bank through the Urban Health and Nutrition and Program.
The final number of patients provided free drugs from DOH would slightly deviate from target based on prevailing prices of drugs
Increase in TB budget was made possible because of the political commitment of the DOH leadership to support TB. This was highlighted in 1999 when DOH embarked on a Health Sector Reform Agenda to improve health services. The TB control program is among the top priority for public health reform. Having prioritized TB, the next step was to advocate to Congress appropriate the increase in TB budget.