Taguig is Most Outstanding LGU in the fight against TB

Taguig City has bagged this year’s Manuel L. Quezon Award, the prestigious award given by the Department of Health (DOH) to Local Government Units which successfully implement national health objectives.

Mayor Lani Cayetano is ecstatic after Taguig was bestowed the Most Outstanding Highly Urbanized City in Luzon award in the fight against Tuberculosis (TB) during the Bayanihan ng Kalusugan ceremony.

Taguig City achieved a 90 percent TB Case Detection Rate and TB Treatment Success Rate.

The lady mayor revealed that the pro-active strategy of the City Health Office in combating the dreaded disease has saved the lives and improved the health of multitude of TB patients.

Dr. Isaias Ramos, Officer-in-Charge of the City Health Office, attributes their success to “Intensive Case Finding” and the city government’s all-out support.

“Our case finding strategy is very solid. This is crucial to the success of our campaign. Remember, TB is primarily an airborne disease. If we fail to identify possible TB bacteria carriers, the disease can easily spread. It is also our task to make sure each patient will complete the medication,” Dr. Ramos explains.

Taguig has established a TB Task Force responsible for house-to-house dissemination of information, identifying TB patients, and monitoring the patients’ completion of the medication. 

Dr. Ramos adds that the city’s intervention is the key in having a steady supply of anti-TB drugs. He said that the city is always ready to augment the supply of TB drugs making the drug available for distribution to the patients.

The city government also puts emphasis on the prevention aspect of the TB campaign. The city-run Taguig City University (TCU) requires its students at the start of every semester to undergo a medical examination which includes a chest X-ray.

The city’s public school teachers are similarly required to take an annual medical examination and chest X-ray before the start of every school year.

Taguig has 31 TB DOTS Center and a satellite treatment center at the North Daang Hari Health Center dedicated to patients suffering from multi-drug resistant TB. The satellite treatment center also has a gene expert machine that can determine if a person is infected with multi-drug test resistant TB.

In 2015, Taguig City was given the Most Outstanding LGU in TB-HIV Implementation without Medtech Augmentation and the Most Outstanding LGU in Community Based Organization.

Mayor Lani credits the city’s success to its core of health professionals who are committed to the cause of health services. She has hailed them as modern day heroes.