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By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter
An additional P700 million was allocated to the
government’s campaign against tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS, as
contained in the P1.227-trillion national budget for 2008 which
Congress ratified on Monday.
The chairman of the House Committee on
Appropriations, Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, made the disclosure,
noting that both chambers of Congress approved P300 million for the
country to fulfill its commitment to the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) as prescribed by the United Nations.
One of the MDG’s goals is to combat the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or
HIV-AIDS.
“In terms of HIV incidents, the Philippines is
now placed in the alarming hidden and growing category down from its
low and slow status in the past years,” Lagman said.
Based on the United Nations report titled
“Global AIDS Epidemic,” while the number of people living with
HIV in the Philippines is still low, the number has more than
doubled compared to 2001.
On the other hand, an additional P400 million
was included in the budget of the Department of Health for its
prevention and cure of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Recent data from the Health department reveal
that tuberculosis is the number six killer disease in the
Philippines. On top of the said amounts, Lagman said that Congress
allocated an additional P200 million for the Department of Education
for the treatment of public school teachers and non-teaching
personnel who are afflicted with tuberculosis.
The Education department recently said that
close to 2,000 teachers are suffering from tuberculosis, which could
be transmitted to their pupils.
On Monday night, the Congress ratified the
bicameral conference report on House Bill 2454, or the General
Appropriations Act of 2008.
The total approved budget is P1.227 trillion,
with P38.5 billion cut from debt servicing that was realigned to
social services. The health and education departments got bigger
chunks of the budget with P158.6 billion and P25.8 billion,
respectively.
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