The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute (DLSHSI) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on 10 May 2018 at DLSHSI, Cavite for a community approach study to control and halt Drug Resistant TB (COACH – DRTB).

PCHRD and DLSHSI have long been partners in research to help improve the current TB problem in the country. Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya and Division Chief Ms. Merle Opeña represented PCHRD while DLSHSI was represented by University President Br. Augustine L. Boquer during the ceremonial signing.

COACH –DRTB is a five-year long project that will support the National TB Program in formulating the policies and guidelines in investigating household contacts of active TB cases as well as in formulating the guidelines in enhancing the support of local partners in managing TB in their community.

Dr. Charles Yu, Vice Chancellor for Research Division at DLSHSI and proponent of the study, said that the research will determine the effectiveness of COACH – DRTB strategy in the detection and treatment of DRTB. Expected outputs of the project are to formulate policies and guidelines to enhance and develop the support of community partners in managing TB at their locale, train and mentor community health workers as TB treatment partners, and foster collaboration among government institutions, LGUs, and community health offices. Results of standardized data and specimen collection of the study will also be sent to Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT) International as bases for future collaborative efforts on TB.

One of the highlights of the MOA signing was when both Dr. Montoya and Br. Boquer gave meaningful statement to solidify the collaboration. According to Dr. Montoya, this project is one of the biggest projects to be funded by the Council which means that TB remains as a priority disease that has to be the focus of the Council’s attention and resources. He added that the Council has full confidence and trust that DLSHSI as an institution can conduct the research that will hopefully have a significant contribution to the national effort to control TB in the Philippines.

While Br. Boquer expresses gratitude to the Council for giving DLSHSI the opportunity to help other people and to improve delivery of health care through scientific research. He assured that DLSHSI is committed in seeing the project through and delivering results.

In addition, Dr. Montoya reminded everyone that “as a national coordinating agency for health research, your success is our [PCHRD] success and that we all work for a common goal and that is to provide the best quality healthcare for each and every Filipino.”