'Ailing' TB center in financial crisis

After having dedicated itself to the fight against tuberculosis for almost a century now, the Cebu TB Pavilion has become an 'ailing' institution for the lack of funds to continue with its advocacy.

In a letter to the Talisay City government dated December 5, the non-profit charitable institution is asking for "whatever assistance that could possibly be extended to an already ailing institution."

"After almost a century of doing its share in the fight against the dreaded disease by giving free sputum examinations, X-ray services, medicine, hospitalization and domiciliary services to indigent Cebuanos, the TB Pavilion has come to a point that for it to continue existing must solicit or seek financial assistance from those who are greatly concerned about public health and are in a position to help in a meaningful way," said Dr. Purita Ablaza Gil, medical director of the Pavilion, in her letter to Mayor Socrates Fernandez.

The Cebu TB Pavilion is a branch of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc. spreading the news that tuberculosis is already a curable disease. However, people with TB could move around undetected or untreated due to poverty, Gil added.

She also noted that the number of tuberculosis cases in the Philippines is growing at an alarming rate, it being the 6th leading cause of deaths in the country.

Based on the 2004 statistics, the National Tuberculosis Program recorded 320 individuals out of 100,000 persons afflicted with TB. The incidence rate is 224 for every 100,000 population. The program's goal is to cure 85 percent of the 70 percent of patients afflicted with TB. - Garry B. Lao