What is the top infectious killer in the Philippines?

Tuberculosis is the top infectious killer in the Philippines.

Every day, 70 Filipinos die from TB, although it is a curable disease.

TB is the leading killer of people with HIV and a major cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance.

About 1 million Filipinos have active TB disease, the 3rd highest prevalence rate in the world. Tuberculosis (TB)is curable and treatment is provided for free by the Department of Health.

In 2017, 581,000 people fell ill with TB in the Philippines. 264,000 of them were undiagnosed or detected but not reported. Better reporting, diagnosis and access to care will close this gap.

Multidrug-resistant TB is a serious public security threat.

In the Philippines, only 1 in 5 people had access to MDR-TB treatment. Of those who accessed treatment, only 54% were treated successfully.

Half of the Philippine population is likely infected with latent tuberculosis. Latent TB means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit the disease.(World Health Organization)