BINANGONAN, RIZAL — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has scaled up its partnership with the private sector to promote health-seeking behavior among the most vulnerable population through a kick-off event with Asia’s premier coating manufacturer, Nippon Paint, last July 27 at Binangonan Rural Health Unit.
Through the USAID-TBIHSS, implemented by FHI 360, eight TB-DOTS clinics across the country were selected to be repainted with murals and messaging depicting the Department of Health’s Healthy Lungs campaign, which sought to create a welcoming space among patients seeking treatment for tuberculosis.
“We want our TB-DOTS Center to be a safe and welcoming space for those with tuberculosis,” said USAID Philippines Project Management Specialist Tito Felipe Rodrigo on the importance of the tie-up with Nippon Paint to paint a future of a Healthy Pilipinas.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of Nippon Paint Philippines, who stood by us, showed compassion and support towards the fight against TB, and who have been generous in providing quality paints for the repainting initiative,” he added.
The Binangonan Rural Health Unit was recently named one of the top-performing TB-DOTS Centers in the Philippines. This is in recognition of the unit’s successful case detection efforts to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in the municipality, according to RHU Municipal Health Center Officer Dr. Angelito Dela Cuesta.
TB survivors also attended the unveiling of the center’s new look and signed their commitment to promote awareness on tuberculosis prevention and treatment in their respective communities.
“We need to improve how we are going to educate and give them incentives, inspire the people who are sick, and show them that there are people who are working tirelessly to bring their lives back to normal,” said Binangonan First Lady Dr. Rose Martha Callanta-Ynares, highlighting the importance of innovations for disease prevention and treatment.
This USAID initiative is a nationwide project that is set to benefit three more TB-DOTS Centers in Luzon, three in Cebu, and one in Dumaguete City.
“We want to be a part of this mission of raising awareness by transforming spaces and fostering creativity,” said Nippon Paint Philippines Technical Director Leticia Noma, who also highlighted the importance of visual arts to boost promotion of health-seeking behavior especially in hard-to-reach areas.
The inaugural repainting used Nippon Weatherbond for the center’s exterior, which can provide more than 10 years of protection against fading and harsh weather conditions. The center’s interior walls, on the other hand, were coated with Nippon Vinitex Fresh and Nippon Spotless, both of which have antimicrobial properties—helpful for tuberculosis patients who are recovering.
This partnership with Nippon Paint is one of the many initiatives of USAID’s TBIHSS project to raise awareness about tuberculosis and implement health processes and systems that will help the Philippines achieve its goal of eliminating TB by 2035.
The Department of Health estimates that 70 Filipinos die every day from TB, and over 1.6 million Filipinos succumbed to it in 2021. The department, however, stressed that the disease is curable and that afflicted patients can seek treatment from any TB DOTS Center nationwide.
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