DOH Detects 9,086 TB Cases In Eastern Visayas In 2015

The Department of Health (DOH) has initially monitored 9,086 cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Eastern Visayas last year, prompting the government to step up efforts to combat the spread of this infectious disease killer.

As of third quarter of 2015, the region’s new and recurring cases have remarkably increased compared to the 7,201 cases in the entire 2014.

Ma. Teresa Caidic, DOH regional TB medical coordinator said prevalence of cases have remained high in the past years due to relapse cases, emergence of multi-drug resistant TB, and more people have been seeking medical help.

Relapse TB cases are contracted by victims who failed to complete the six-month medication. As of third quarter of 2015, there are 530 similar cases in the region, higher than the 350 recorded a year ago.

The disease is still the sixth cause of death in the region, but the DOH regional office has yet to consolidate reports on confirmed TB mortalities.

According to Caidic, there are TB patients who have died due to road accidents, and other diseases while undergoing treatment.

During the first 10 months of last year, there were 7,201 TB patients under treatment with 6,578 were successfully cured.

Caidic reminded the public to seek medical help from rural health units and government-owned health facilities instead of private hospitals. The entire cost of medication for six months is shouldered by the DOH.

“Some patients go to private practitioners, which is expensive. Some of these doctors don’t inform patients that there is free medication. A patient has to spend Php5,000 to Php6,000 for anti-TB drugs alone,” Caidic said.

Those financially constrained, stop medication especially if they notice that their health condition has been improving. Others also return to smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. This contributes to recurrent cases, according to Caidic.

The national government is spending Php15 million for TB program in Eastern Visayas this year.

Private hospitals are encouraged to set up TB Directly-Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS) centers to concentrate on TB treatment. Caidic said the government is committed to provide drug supplies to all public and privately-run TB DOTS center.

The region has 143 existing TB DOTS centers, mostly government hospitals and rural health units with trained TB core team.

Treatment failure also contributes to emergence of multi-drug resistant TB, which requires 18 months to two years medication under confinement.

Currently, only the schistosomiasis hospital in Palo, Leyte treats multi-drug resistant TB. All expenses are now shouldered by a non-government organization.

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobeacterium tuberculosis that is mainly acquired by inhalation of infectious droplets containing viable tubercle bacilli.

Infectious droplets can be produced by coughing, sneezing, talking and singing. Coughing is generally considered as the most efficient way of producing infectious droplets.

TB is contagious with one person able to infect 15 others if they do not receive the correct treatment.

Through the National TB Program (NTP), the country achieved the global targets of 70 percent case detection for new smear positive TB cases and 89 percent of these became successfully treated.

The program aims to reduce local variations in TB control program performance, scale-up and sustain coverage of DOTS implementation, ensure provision of quality TB services, and reduce out-of-pocket expenses related to TB care. (PNA) FPV/SARWELL Q. MENIANO