by Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Apr 15 (PIA) – Tuberculosis
or TB remains to be a health threat in Basilan and urged the public to be aware
of the disease, according to local health authorities here.
In separate radio interview over DXNO-FM
Radyo Komunidad radio station in Isabela City, both representatives of the
Department of Health (DOH-Rep) and the Provincial Health Office (PHO) agree
that TB detection cases in the province is high and to some degree alarming.
PHO’s National Tuberculosis control Program
(NTP) provincial coordinator Cathy V. Mutamad reveals that based on its 2011
NTP Annual Accomplishment Report, Basilan has a case detection rate (CDR) of
67.2% and a cure rate (CR) of 57.2%.
“Many of our constituents are not very much
aware of the disease and could not really appreciate what this disease is. That
is why we are doing our best to increase this awareness among our people,
especially in the rural areas,” Mutamad said.
She said that health departments here are
intensifying its information campaign in the communities through case detection
surveys and community pulung-pulong.
She added that discussion like this in radio programs could heightened the
awareness level of the people.
Oliver Divinigracia of DOH-Rep said that in
spite of existing treatment for TB, it still remains to be one of the top five
diseases in Basilan.
“Everyone is vulnerable,” he said, since the
disease is highly contagious, especially in the absence of first treatment, as
the bacteria could survive in the air for quite some time.
Marida Perez, Infectious Disease Cluster Head
Nurse provincial coordinator explained that Tuberculosis is a disease caused by
tubercle bacilli that most commonly affects the lungs in more than 80% of the
clients. It is known as Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB). She said that people can
be infected when living or in close contact with a patient who has an active
PTB.
She added there is another type of
tuberculosis that affects the lymph nodes, bones, joints, genito-urinary tract,
meninges, intestines and other parts of the body other than the lungs and it is
considered as Extra-Pulmonary Tuberculosis (EP).
DOH-Rep MedTech Musa Abubakar, meanwhile has
appealed to the public for cooperation. He urged the public to help the local
health personnel in detecting cases of TB by reporting or submitting themselves
for case detection.
Speaking in Yakan dialect, Abubakar urged
people symptomatic of the disease, chronic cough for example, to visit
community health centers as health personnel are trained to handle such cases.
“Ang TB ay nagagamot, kaya hindi dapat
katakutan (TB is curable and one should not be afraid of it.),” Abubakar stressed,
saying that negative attitude towards people with TB are still persistent in
the communities. “Because people do not understand the disease,” he added.
