Center for treatment of drug-resistant TB to rise in Koronadal City

Center for treatment of drug-resistant TB to rise in Koronadal City
by Dani Doguiles
PIA News Agency
November, 26, 2010

Koronadal City (26 November) -- Residents of Region 12 who are suffering from multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) will soon get free services with the establishment of a regional treatment center for the disease in Koronadal City.

Koronadal City Mayor Peter B. Miguel recently announced that a memorandum of agreement between the local government, Department of Health (DOH), National Lung Center, and the private non-profit foundation Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) for the creation of a Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Center in the city has been signed.

The MDR treatment center will effectively hasten the management and control of the increasing number of multi-drug resistant TB cases in the region at much lesser expense on the part of the patients and their families.

Based on the MOA, the city government is only required to provide five medical staff who will run the facility and the building that will house the center as its counterpart in the partnership. Partner agencies will provide the equipment and machineries, training of the personnel, as well as drugs and medicines for the treatment.

After five years, the full operation of the TB treatment center will be turned over to the city government.

"At present, patients with multi-drug resistant TB are treated in Metro Manila but the National Lung Center cannot accommodate all the patients. For people in the city and the neighboring cities and provinces suffering from TB, to avail of such treatment is very expensive," he said.

Treatment of MDR cases is also more expensive than the treatment of the normal cases of TB.

"Treatments in the TB center will be free of charge," he added.

The TB center will be put up beside the City Health Office.