The Provincial Health Office came through with the data on new and relapse cases of tuberculosis in Catanduanes for the period 2019 to 2023, although it was too late to be included in the headline story last week.
Still, we appreciate the effort of NTP Nurse Coordinator Ira Pamela Bilo and her immediate superiors, Provincial Health Officer I and NTP Medical Coordinator Dr. Angel Albert Lamban, and Provincial Health Officer II Dr. Hazel Palmes.
The records show that the number of new and relapse TB cases in 2019 was 759, dropping to 638 in 2020 before rising again to 703 in 2021.
The figure topped the thousand level in 2022, with 1,102, and was at almost the same level last year with 1,085 cases.
The PHO total is significantly less than the 1,601 new cases announced by DOH Regional Director Nestor Santiago Jr. in his opening message in the March 12, 2024 press conference at ECrown Hotel.
On the other hand, from the average of 13 percent from 2019 to 2021, the percentage of relapse TB cases has also increased to 18 percent in 2022 and again grew to 23 percent last year.
Local health officials clarified that the relapse TB cases are not due to the government’s not providing the needed drugs but mainly because of the patients’ failure to take the medicines as directed.
The recent increase in the number of new cases could also be attributed to the increased detection capability of the local health system following the establishment of the Rapid TB Diagnostic Laboratory at Pandan District Hospital, Baras Satellite Treatment Center and Virac Rural Health Unit.
With another RTDL to be set up at Eastern Bicol Medical Center, these labs are able to not only detect the presence of TB bacteria in just 45 minutes but also determine if the strain is resistant to the drug rifampicin.
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Last Thursday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant, Vice Admiral Ronnie Gil Galvan, accompanied by Rear Admiral Troy Cornelio, visited the old Long-Range Navigation (LORAN) site in barangay Quigaray, Bagamanoc on Panay Island where the officers, together with Cong. Eulogio Rodriguez, were met by Mayor Odilon Pascua and DPWH Assistant DE Maximo Eleda.
The group inspected the area where the proposed Coast Guard Station would be built this year, with funding from the Department of Transportation reportedly initiated by Sen. Francis Tolentino.
Incidentally, the senator recently called on his colleagues to pass Senate Bill 654 which he introduced in 2022 proposing the establishment of Forward Operating Bases in sites identified in the Philippine Navy’s Strategic Basing Plan 2040.
Smaller than a main naval base, the FOBs will serve as outposts in strategic locations near the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise.
A check of SB 654 shows that Catanduanes, or Panay Island in particular, is not in the list of the sites in the Navy plan, which has on the eastern side of the archipelago four proposed sites in Polillo in Quezon, Divilacan in Isabela, Casiguran in Aurora and Allen in Northern Samar.
I wonder what happened to its plan to build a naval base in Panay island next to the PCG station.
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THE WAY HE WANTED TO GO. An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home.
When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything.
Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behavior that made them squirm in their seats.
Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?”
The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.”