The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), along with other organizations and government agencies, signed recently a Declaration of Partnership and Collaborative Actions for the Workplace TB DOTS Program.

The Declaration underscores that harmonization of policies and guidelines is essential to the effective implementation of the National TB Program. It recognizes that there are current issues that need to be addressed collaboratively to achieve the goals of the National TB Program, specifically the Workplace TB DOTS as well.

The signatories – apart from ECOP, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PHIC), Social Security System (SSS), Employees' Compensation Commission (ECC), Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Association of Health Management Organization of the Philippines, Inc. (AHMOPI), LMC-Pagkakaisa, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) which are principal players in the Comprehensive Unified Policy for TB (CUP) – also took cognizance of initiatives relative to Workplace TB DOTS Program such as the following:

• DOH review and amendment of some National TB Program policies;
• PHIC review of its TB DOTS benefit package to make it more responsive to current issues in the files;
• DOLE advocacy towards compliance with DO 73-05, training on DO 73-05 in coordination with private organizations concerned with workplaces, and inclusion of the components of workplace TB DOTS program in the inspection checklist; and
• ECC revision of the criteria for compensation claims and through the Inter-Agency Committee, the production of an IEC package for advocacy of the Workplace TB DOTS Program, among other initiatives.

Realizing the need for a leadership structure for sustainability of the Workplace TB DOTS Program, agree to the principle of shared responsibility through a rotating/alternating convenor role among the private sector signatories, with technical assistance from the DOH and DOLE.