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. 2025 Mar 31;59(4):65-77.
doi: 10.47895/amp.v59i4.9364. eCollection 2025.

A Review of Workplace Tuberculosis Policies in Selected Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Asia-Pacific

Evalyn A Roxas  1 , Vivien Fe F Fadrilan-Camacho  2 , Paul Michael R Hernandez  2 , Maria Margarita M Lota  1 , Loisse Mikaela M Loterio  1 , Adrian Paul M Agravante  2 , Daniella Kate B Corpuz  3 , Carlo R Lumangaya  3 , Richelle Liza F Maglalang  3 , Micaela J Arevalo  3 , Vicente Y Belizario Jr  4
Affiliations

A Review of Workplace Tuberculosis Policies in Selected Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Asia-Pacific

Evalyn A Roxas et al. Acta Med Philipp. .

Abstract

Background and objective: The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that most of the tuberculosis (TB) cases are aged between 15 to 54 years old, the working population. This study described workplace policies on TB in selected low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in Asia-Pacific.

Methods: Among the LMICs, countries wherein TB is a public health concern were included. Six policies written in English were included in this study and were reviewed based on the components of the TB workplace programs that were extracted from the WHO Guidelines for Workplace TB Control Activities.

Results: The Philippine policy had the most number of components while those of Cambodia and Papua New Guinea had the least. Only the component on implementing environmental controls was common among the policies. Components on respecting patient rights and confidentiality, tailoring of workload to TB patient's state of health, registration of all patients with TB diagnosis, reporting of cases to central NTP office, recording of standard treatment outcome, and inclusion of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) provisions were missing for the majority of the policy documents.

Conclusion: The workplace TB program policies included in this study can be reviewed and updated accordingly, with the coverage expanding to all workplaces. The policies can also integrate measures on COVID-19 as the pandemic has slowed the progress in TB control. With the similarities in the preventive measures against TB and COVID-19, this can be an avenue to develop integrated policies especially for workplaces.

Keywords: low- and middle-income countries; tuberculosis (TB); tuberculosis in the workplace; tuberculosis program; workplace policies.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart for inclusion of policies on workplace TB for review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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