CITY OF SAN FERNAND---Some 1,568 tuberculosis patients (TB) received P3,500 cash assistance and medicines from the provincial government of Pampanga as part of Capitol's assistance to vulnerable sectors of the community.
The beneficiaries who came from the province's first and second districts also received food assistance in the form of food packs from the provincial government in ceremonies held on Wednesday, May 10, at the Bren Z Guiao Convention Center.
Vice Governor Lilia Pineda led the distribution of assistance on behalf of Governor Dennis' Pineda to personally look over the condition of the patients undergoing medication.
She also thanked the Department of Health (DOH) for extending efforts to provide the medication needs of more than 3,000 recorded patients in the province's Rural Health Units (RHUs).
According to her, more than political support, patients must also elevate efforts to cure themselves to lessen the risks of TB within communities.
“Ing panabilin ku mu pu kekayu, eyu la sana kakaligtaan deng panulu yu. Adyang nanung malyari inuman yu la bang galing kayu. Kasi kung mig-skip kayu pilang aldo, ekayu mipaldan. Lala kayu pota mi-convert ya pa yang cancer baga,” said Vice Governor Pineda.
(I remind you not to forget to take your medicines whatever happens so that you will get well. If you skip [your medicines] for a few days, you will not be relieved and it might even aggravate to lung cancer)
To boost advocacy efforts to fight TB, patients also underwent educational talks on preventing and curing the disease.
The DOH reported 311,000 tuberculosis cases in the country in 2021 based on the National TB Registry.
Experts advise patients to seek early treatment if symptoms already persist.
“Isa talaga ang Pilipinas sa may pinakamaraming incidence ng tuberculosis. Sa sampung pasyenteng pumunta sa mga ospital, nasa 6 hanggang pito out of 10 ang positibo sa Tuberculosis. One reason is siguro sa kaalaman ng mga tao, hindi nila alam na mayroon na pala silang tuberculosis. Madalas kasi wala silang symptoms, malalaman na lang nila minsan kapag may x-ray findings na sila. Tanggalin dapat natin ang stigma sa TB, dapat kung may nararamdaman na sila ay magpakonsulta na doctor,” said Dr. Kristine Juico-Dungo, a pulmonologist.
“Simula ng magka TB ako, six months ago, natigil na ako sa pagtatrabaho. Kaya napakalaking tulong itong binigay nila sa amin para kahit papaano ay may maiuwi at makabawi man lang ako sa pamilya ko,” said Wilson Enjape, a TB patient.
1,641 TB patients from the third and fourth districts received the same assistance the other day.
The World Health Organization (DOH) defines TB as an illness brought on by a bacterium that damages the lungs. It is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after Covid-19 worldwide.