Dr. Janice Caoili's Story of #TBCourage

Dr. Janice Caoili leads clinical trials at the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) in the Philippines. Her work is focused on testing new #tuberculosis drug regimens to determine if they will be effective, shorter and cause fewer side effects. This is her story of #TBCourage:

Dr. Caoili sees tuberculosis (TB) patients daily. Even though TB drugs are available at no cost in the Philippines, patients still face challenges with access to care, disease management, as well as the complex treatments that they must take every day – especially patients with drug-resistant forms of TB. She hopes that “the number of pills that patients take will decrease.”

“There is still stigma associated with TB,” she says. “It’s not only about patients or those who get the disease. It’s really having everyone aware of TB, how it affects us, how we can control it and how we can contribute towards ending TB in the Philippines.”

She adds that, “not only should there be more support from the communities, but also from doctors, the private health sector and public health sectors. Doctors should be informed of the different diagnostic methods and be able to determine the treatment the patient will need to help fight TB.”