BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA
TUGUEGARAO CITY (August 25, 2024)—At least 8,481 tuberculosis cases have been registered in the first seven months this year in the Cagayan Valley region, with smoking tagged as one of the primary culprits.
Janet Ibay, infectious disease cluster head of the Department of Health-Cagayan Valley, on Wednesday invoked the need for healthy living amid reports that the region has recorded a 106-percent notification rate of tuberculosis.
Health officer Florentino Somera III noted that most of those affected were men with ages 50 and above.
Ibay said that tuberculosis was minimal during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but this was reportedly due to people’s limited access to hospitals.
Many patients were not immediately able to undergo examination and treatment due to restrictions and fear of being included among the Covid patients, she added.
Health officials asked villagers not to ignore the symptoms of tuberculosis such as having a cough for more than a week, fever, weight loss, body weakness and loss of appetite.
The health department in the region has partnered with the Philippine Business for Social Progress for the implementation of the TB Caravan that delivers free chest x-rays to different municipalities in the region, Ibay said.
“We are having a schedule of our free chest x-ray in different local government units in our region, so just coordinate, ask our rural health units for the schedule of the free chest x-ray,” she added.