Filipino Labor Department To Issue Workplace TB Guidelines

The Filipino Department of Labor and Employment this week is expected to issue guidelines for the control and prevention of tuberculosis in the country's workplaces, Asia Pulse reports. Under the new guidelines, all private companies in the country will be required to have TB guidelines that include prevention, treatment and leave components, according to Dulce Gust, executive director of DOLE's Occupation Safety and Health Committee. The guidelines also require that employees diagnosed with TB be provided with directly observed treatment, short-course, or DOTS -- the internationally recommended strategy to control TB. During treatment periods, workers will be compensated and offered flexible leave schedules, and DOTS supervisors will determine when patients can return to work full time. In addition, companies in the country will be required to institute TB education and prevention programs and will face sanctions if they do not comply with the guidelines, which go into effect 15 days after they are released on Tuesday. According to the Philippines Tuberculosis Initiatives for the Private Sector, 75 workers died from TB in 2003, resulting in a loss of $142,163 in annual wages (Asia Pulse, 7/19).