DOH rolls out TB Caravan in Abra

DOLORES, Abra(PIA) — The Department of Health (DOH) has rolled out the TB Caravan in the province of Abra as a proactive measure to curb the spread of Tuberculosis.

Services in the said caravan include screening for presumptive TB, provision of Chest X-Ray services, and sputum exam.

Through the symptom screening and chest X-ray, TB cases in the community maybe detected , and treatment will be initiated.

More than 120 residents of the municipality of Dolores availed the free TB diagnostic and treatment service on November 15 at the Dolores Civic Center during the TB Caravan.

DOH TB Notification Officer Alan Irvin Acena said that since the start of the caravan on Nov. 13, more than 100 Abrenians are already listed for confirmatory testing due to some findings in their chest x-ray. If a patient is confirmed positive, all medical interventions will be given for free.

“We started this caravan there were 66 in the provincial jails of Bucay and Bangued,  plus 32 from Danglas,  9 here in Dolores, including some from Abra Provincial Hospital, meron na more than 100 and countin,” he said.

Acena shared the easy way to check if a person has presumptive TB. “Alalahanin natin ang NCUF, kapag may night sweat, cough, unexplained weight loss, fever, we encourage you to avail ang mga free test and free medicine,” Acena said.

He also clarified that if there’s a family member with TB, all them in that household are close contacts thus, they  need to be screened and tested.

He said that if  a patient is confirmed  positive, all medical interventions will be given free.

“We will enroll them for treatment immediately from 6 month to 1-year,  depende sa kalala ng infection nila at lahat ng maibibigay na gamot ay libre,” he said.

The TB Caravan is in partnership with the provincial health office, the Municipal Local Government Units and Philippine Business for Social Progress. It will  go to all the towns of the province.  (JDP/CAGT – PIA CAR, Abra)