Missing 4,702 TB cases in Bohol alarming – PB member

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — Based on Department of Health data, "there are 4,702 missing tuberculosis (TB) cases in Bohol in 2017, which is very alarming," Provincial Board Member Jade Acapulco Bautista said in her privilege speech on Friday.

Bautista, health committee chairperson, explained that the number of missing TB cases was based on the estimated population of a certain province.

"The actual number of reported cases of tuberculosis is deducted from the target and the difference is the missing TB cases," she said, and "it means there are still a high number of TB cases that are not yet reported."

What probably complicated this health concern is that these unreported persons do not even know they have TB and they might infect others, said Bautista.

She said she learned this from a workshop dubbed, "Orientation on the Philippine Strategic TB Elimination Plan (PhilSTEP) and Province-wide Workshop held at a resort in Tagbilaran City, and spearheaded by the Association of Municipal Health Officers of the Philippines (AMHOP) Bohol chapter and the Provincial Health Office last Feb. 14.

Bautista said that substantial number of these missing TB cases "come from our jails," based on a testimony of a representative of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Considering that jails are very congested and the airborne disease is infectious, the number of TB patients in prisons continues to worsen, she said.

But AMHOP president, Dr. Reina Jane Demadante, disputed the data given by DOH's representative Pilar Mabasa that the actual number of missing TB cases may not reflect the actual figure (missing cases) because it was computed based on estimated population and not on actual number of inhabitants.

Demadante insisted that the great number of these persons classified as among the missing TB cases do not live in the province anymore.

Despite this issue on the real number of missing TB cases, Bautista emphasized that there's indeed a need to raise this public health concern to the PB, to be able to do something about it.

She told The Freeman that she's set to investigate this in-aid-of-legislation, after it was referred to her committee. (FREEMAN)