John Anthony Tinio, Nurse Transition Program (NTP) Davao Chest Center, in an interview over the Davao City Disaster Radio said that 17 health districts in the city have already scheduled free Chest X-Ray services.
“This is active case finding, which means that we, in our district health centers, the CHO, will look for people who will be screened if they have disease in the lungs,” according to Tinio.
The target vulnerable groups are members of the transport sector and close contacts of people who are taking medication for tuberculosis, and the community itself.
He said the free chest X-Ray offered in district health centers is in the form of X-Ray vouchers and it is the initiative of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), with the Department of Health.
“We continue to provide this service as long as the Memorandum of Agreement with PBSP stands. This service is available daily provided that they qualify as presumptive TB patients,” Tinio said.
He added that Active Case Finding is one of the ways to screen TB patients and it is being conducted based on the availability of the mobile X-Ray, which is also provided and funded by the PBSP.
ACF is done among the vulnerable groups that have a higher chance of getting infected with TB and is an activity being conducted by different facilities/health centers throughout the year.
The CHO also launched other activities for this month’s observance, which included an awareness symposium on stigma and anti-discrimination of people with TB cases.
“TB is a real disease and it is existing. It is treatable and should not be hidden. The medication for it is free from start to finish,” he said.
Tinio said that the free medication is conducted within six months. To avail of this, based on their regular order of business, clients may go to their health centers and be checked to know if they have Tuberculosis.
The Chest Center or District Health Center will interview and assess the patient, they are usually required to submit a Chest X-Ray result, which will be crossed-check with the sputum GeneXpert or laboratory examination of the phlegm sample. The laboratory, however, will also require a COVID-19 clearance.