Ensuring Sustainable Access to TB Medicines through Inclusion in the Philippine National Formulary

Ensuring Sustainable Access to TB Medicines through Inclusion in the Philippine National Formulary

To address the high burden of TB in the Philippines, the National TB Control Program (NTP) of the Department of Health (DOH) is working to ensure access to TB medicines. The DOH’s Pharmaceutical Division (PD) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also help ensure access through regulating in-country registration, quality, safety, and affordability. The DOH requires medicines to be included in the country’s essential medicines list before government funds can be used to acquire them.

The Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program helped facilitate the adoption of new medicines and regimens by using a systems strengthening approach that engages stakeholders, builds on existing systems or establishes new ones where appropriate, strengthens human resources via trainings, improves the distribution chain for new TB medicines, and records and reports information for decision making in relevant areas.