CEBU CITY, May 3 -- Health officials in Central Visayas are doubling efforts to erase the stigma of tuberculosis given the rise in cases, through easy diagnosis, free testing and treatment, an official said on Friday.

Dr. Jaime Bernadas, Department of Health-Central Visayas regional director, said tuberculosis remains a highly infectious disease that needs to be addressed through the help of the entire community.

"Every household in this country may have a person carrying tuberculosis bacilli," he said in a press conference at the DOH-7's Center for Health Development here Friday.

Elwin Ivan Uy, Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSB) executive director, who attended the press conference, estimates that about 100,000 tuberculos...