Davao City posts 85% TB cure rate

DAVAO City posted a high cure rate of 85 percent and case detection rate (CDR) of 76 percent for patients diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2011, an official said Friday.

Dr. Ashley Lopez, Davao medical coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) of the City Health Office (CHO), said the city hit the target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 85 percent for cure rate and surpassed the 70 percent in CDR.

"It's safe to say that tuberculosis in Davao City is controllable since we reach the target of WHO," he said.

In 2011, he said they have recorded a total of 2,642 tuberculosis cases registered for treatment, of which 85 percent or 2245 cases were cured.

For the CDR, the target of the WHO is 1,980 for every country, but the city posted 76 percent or 1,510 cases detected a year ago.

He said the case detection rate has improved tremendously compared from the 48 case detection rate in 1976.

"Majority of the TB positive patients are males with a ratio of 4:1 (males: females), because they are ones who are more exposed outside," he said.

He added that out of the 16,951 tuberculosis-suspected cases, 2,116 tested positive for tuberculosis.

For those diagnosed with TB, the City Government has been giving free medicines for the six-month treatment.

"There's a collaboration with private medical facilities to record patients with TB. Diagnosis and treatment are free, even the private physicians should refer the patients to health centers to get medicines," he said.

He said the City Government will pay cost the treatment for P15,000.

Davao Regional Hospital (DDH) Tuberculosis Directly-Observed Treatment Shortcourse (Dots) facility head Dr. Parkash Mansukhani said TB is common among those families with low-income who only have single rooms.

He added that 40 percent to 60 percent of the Filipinos already have the bacteria in their bodies, which will reactivate when the resistance goes down. TB will also recur after how many years, he said.