The Philippines has logged the highest incidence of tuberculosis (TB) cases across the Western Pacific Region, a recent World Health Organization (WHO) study found.

The country is one of five of the 30 countries with a high TB burden, alongside China, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam.

As of 31 December, the Philippines' new cases number 612,535 or about 549 cases per 100,000 population, lower than in 2022.

In that year, the country recorded the highest incidence rate in 2022 at 638 per 100,000 population, according to WHO.

This marked an increase from 2000 and placed the country among those with the highest TB incidence rates in the world, accounting for seven percent of the global TB cases.

Meanwhile, the most notable increase occurred in the Marshall Islands, the WHO report said.

The agency attributed it to the intensified case detection coupled with its small population.

In President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s 2023 State of the Nation, he declared TB as one of his priorities, stressing the urgency of the problem and the important role of each stakeholder and partner in the fight against the airborne disease.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said earlier this year that lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have been the reason for the increase in the incidence of TB cases in the country.

Herbosa explained that family members may have caught the disease from each other during the lockdown.

He also mentioned that TB patients undergoing treatment at directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS) centers were unable to complete their regimen due to lockdown restrictions.

To combat the cases of TB in the country, Herbosa said the Department of Health (DOH) is coordinating with various government agencies, such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Education, as well as with those from the private sector.

However, in September, the DOH expressed alarm over the shortage of anti-tuberculosis drugs, warning that the existing supply would not cover the over 365,000 TB patients targeted for treatment this year.

The DOH said that stocks of first-line anti-TB drugs in national and regional warehouses are only sufficeint for 189,647 patients until the end of 2024.

This is short of the remaining 365,998 adult patients that the Health agency is aiming to treat for the remainder of the year.

Herbosa previously said the DOH aims to eradicate TB in the country by 2030, and wants to focus on having 100 percent of those who have TB diagnosed.

He added that the second goal is to have 99 percent of those diagnosed to get proper medication.

"I'm going to make sure that every person with pulmonary TB gets the medicine and does not die from tuberculosis," Herbosa said.

A total of 10,426 Filipinos with TB have reportedly died, according to data from the Integrated Tuberculosis Information System.

Herbosa aims to remov the Philippines removed from the list of top 10 countries with the highest number of TB cases by the end of his term in 2028.