Maria Emily C. Ballesteros, a nurse managing the tuberculosis (TB) program of the City Health Office in Tuguegarao City, the Philippines. Her dream for Tuguegarao is to one day see zero TB cases and that no one dies from this infectious disease.
Nurses and healthcare workers play a critical role in providing health services. These are the people who devote their lives to caring for others; giving lifesaving immunizations and health advice; looking after people and generally meeting everyday essential health needs. They are often the first and only point of care in their communities.
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses and healthcare workers are at the forefront of the response - providing high quality, respectful treatment and care, leading community dialogue to address fears and questions. Like Emily, countless TB nurses are working hard to ensure that people with TB get uninterrupted treatment and maintain the good quality of TB care.
2020, in the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, we thank all the nurses, midwives and healthcare workers working to #EndTB!
Watch the story of Emily: