Angara highlights early gains in first 100 days at ECCP Luncheon

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


As he approaches his 100th day in office, Education Secretary Sonny Angara urged the support of the private sector to help bridge important gaps in the education sector during a luncheon meeting hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) on Wednesday.

“With your support, we can transform this massive system into a force for positive change. I hope you join me not just in my first 100 days, but also in hundreds more to come. DepEd may be the largest, but with partners like you, we’re certainly not the loneliest,” Sec. Angara said.

Sec. Angara noted that the Department is keen to collaborate with private organizations, particularly in areas such as laptops, resources, electrification, educational technology, infrastructures, and support for children with special needs.

“The private sector has always been our accountability partner. In a cycle of leadership changes, they help ensure that programs continue,” he noted.

The DepEd Chief also shared the progress made by DepEd in his first 100 days in office, following President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ directive to secure the basic services and prepare learners for work.

“We made the curriculum more flexible to maximize the learning time of students. We created a PISA Task Force to prepare our students for the upcoming international assessment. We’re assessing our reading interventions and Senior High School curriculum,” he added.

Sec. Angara further emphasized efforts to improve teacher support, including the review of the Teacher Development Plan, policy on career progression, and additional benefits, “Our teachers need policies that give them more: more time to teach, more resources for their lessons, more salary in their bank accounts. They require sturdy career progress and reliable support like guidance counselors, both currently lacking in our system.”

In addition, he underscored existing partnerships with organizations like Khan Academy, Frontlearners, iamtheCODE, Jollibee, Rebisco, and Milo, as well as international bodies such as the World Bank and UNICEF to strengthen DepEd programs.

The ECCP luncheon served as a platform for discussion between the government and the private sector on pressing national matters like DepEd’s educational initiatives emerging as a key concern for stakeholders.

Doctors Without Borders calls for urgent action as governments and donors are failing children with TB

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Too many children with TB are neither tested nor treated, with many countries failing at the first hurdle: updating policy guidelines in line with WHO recommendations

Geneva, 16 October 2024 - A new report released today by Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), shows that children with tuberculosis (TB) continue to be left behind in the global effort to end the disease. The report, TACTIC: Test, Avoid, Cure TB in Children, surveyed TB policy guidelines in 14 countries* with a high burden of TB, revealing that many countries lag behind in aligning their national TB policies with the latest guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Doctors Without Borders urged all countries to update their national guidelines so they are in line with the WHO recommendations for the care of children with TB, and to allocate the needed resources—along with developing clear plans with timelines to implement the policies and increase access to TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the children with TB in the country. Doctors Without Borders also urged international donors and technical support agencies to provide sufficient funding to countries to support paediatric TB policy reforms and implementation.

“TB is curable, also in children. The WHO has updated policies to guide countries in providing the best possible care to children with TB, one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases,” said Stijn Deborggraeve, Diagnostics Advisor at MSF Access Campaign. “Yet countries are lagging behind in adopting and implementing these solutions for testing, preventing, and treating TB in children. We urge countries, donors and technical agencies to put an end to this deadly status quo and step up their efforts to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of TB in children. We can no longer afford inaction—every delay means that more children die unnecessarily.”

Of the 14 policy indicators measured in the Doctors Without Borders report, only one country’s policies are fully aligned with WHO guidance, while seven countries have more than 80% alignment, and four countries still fall below 50% alignment. The largest gaps were found in policies related to diagnosing TB in children. For example, only 5 out of 14 countries have adapted their guidelines to initiate TB treatment in children when symptoms strongly indicate TB disease, even if bacteriological tests are negative. Additionally, only 4 of these 5 countries have the necessary resources to implement this guidance effectively.

The WHO estimates that 1.25 million children and young adolescents (0-14 years) fall ill with TB each year, but that only half of these children are diagnosed and treated. Based on the latest scientific evidence, WHO revised its guidance in 2022 for the management of children and adolescents with TB and made several key recommendations, including the use of treatment decision algorithms that allow many children to be diagnosed based on symptoms alone in absence of lab confirmation, and offering short oral regimens to treat and prevent TB disease in children. If adopted and implemented, the WHO recommendations would drastically improve the diagnosis and quality of care for children with TB.

“Since the older children have been able to benefit from the shorter three-month, once-weekly TB preventive treatment, they have really appreciated how easy it is to take, as have their parents, and the adherence to treatment is much improved. This is a first-hand example of how keeping up with the latest recommendations can provide patient-centered quality of care as well as improving the national indicators on preventive treatment. We are looking forward to making it available for all ages soon,” says Trisha Thadhani, Filipino TB doctor from the Doctors Without Borders TB project in Tondo, Manila.

However, the work does not stop with policy reforms. For example, new, shorter, all-oral regimens are now recommended by the WHO for both drug-susceptible (DS-) and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment in children, but their rollout in countries remains slow. Additionally, while new and child-friendly TB drugs are available for DS- and DR-TB, these are not always procured by countries.

“It's unfortunate that child-friendly formulations of TB drugs are still not available in many countries due to bureaucratic barriers and funding gaps,” said Dr Cathy Hewison, Head of Doctors Without Borders TB working group. “As a result, children with TB are forced to swallow crushed and bitter medicines without appropriate weight-based doses, putting them at grave risk of side effects and treatment failure. This neglect must end now. We call on governments, donors, and global health organisations to act with urgency, ensuring no child dies or suffers from a preventable, treatable disease like TB. The tools and treatments we have must reach the children who need them most – now."

*Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, India, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Republic of South Sudan, Uganda.

PHLPost announces the resumption on the issuance of Postal ID as functional card

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The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) announces the resumption of the issuance of the Postal functional Card, popularly known as the Postal ID, which started last October 15, 2024 in all capturing and registration Post Office sites across the country. The functional card aims to provide address verification for any customers who will avail of the service.

Recognized as a government issued ID, the Postal ID is an address verification system. It ensures the correct delivery of letters and parcels. This is also being done in other Postal Administrations worldwide.

Government and private institutions can use the Postal ID to verify a recipient's identity and address.

For security purpose, end-users such as private companies and government agencies can partner with PHLPost’s Postal ID (PID) to access the PID Online Verification System (POVS), a web portal that allows end users to confirm the authenticity of the PID being presented to them.

PHLPost added that the Postal ID is a primary document in passport applications in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The public are advised to visit www.phlpost.gov.ph for information on the complete listing of capturing and registration Post Office sites or visit its facebook official social media pages found on PHLPost official website.

Likewise, PHLPost reminded the public not to fall in postal ID scams offering assistance for ID processing through Facebook and other social media channels. Transactions are on-site or directly to the Post Office.

“ We expect that people will be going to renew or apply for a Postal ID card at the very least, and the public should be aware not to fall from scammers who will try to get money and obtain their personal information via text or messages and through social media sites”, Postmaster General Luis Carlos said.

He added, “Do not share personal or financial information, whether it's via Facebook, e-mail, phonecall, or text message. Apply for a Postal ID only at PHLPost offices.

The public were advised to submit their application forms and payments to the designated Post Office capturing sites.

The capturing and registration is done on-site. People should personally present to have their picture, fingerprints, and signature taken. The postal ID application is an easy and convenient process, as long as the requirements are correct and complete.

The Postal ID issued by PHLPost is a widely accepted document in postal transactions in the world by the Universal Postal Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations composed of 192 postal administration countries including PHLPost.

The Postal ID Card is honored in different transactions with government and financial institutions, as long as it's within the ID card's three (3) year validity period. The Postal ID Card will be delivered to the recipient's mailing address. Thus verifying the address of the cardholder. This is very essential in the process of Know Your Customer.

To bring its services closer to the public, PHLPost shall offer PID mobile enrollment service in barangays, business companies, organizations and events.

Meanwhile, PHLPost is now optimizing its mail and parcel delivery systems and improving overall efficiency and reliability capitalizing on the “Postal Trinity”. These include the establishment of Barangay Postal Stations nationwide to provide efficient last mile delivery, reaching out even to far-flung areas of the country. The Barangay shall also be designated as capturing and registration sites.

Second will be the implementation of the new seven (7) digit alphanumeric new ZIP Code PH from the old four (4) digit which will standardize the addressing system in the country. Soon, the New Zip Code will be incorporated in the Postal ID Card.

Lastly, the third one will be the Kartero App or the K-App, a Real Time Visibility system to modernize the delivery and efficiency of its mail operations and track in real time Postal ID Card delivery”, Postmaster General Carlos added.

Address verification service is a basic service offered by other postal administrations around the globe.