Issue 1, July-September 2012 Life of an inmate with TB several months and took only symptomatic medications. He felt loss of appetite and experienced weight loss and had to seek consultation at the jail’s clinic. It was the first week of July 2011 when he was subjected to sputum examination. The specimens are collected at the clinic and sent to the City Health Office for smearing, staining and reading. sputum exam in July of same year. Results were negative so he was considered a non-TB case until the condition recurred in October once again, his repeat sputum exam revealed negative results. It was only in December when he was subjected to Chest X-Ray that he was treated with anti-TB medications. The result came out negative so he was prescribed with antibiotics for 2 weeks and repeat sputum exam was done. Result after a week again revealed negative so he was advised to The WHO support staff of the Deundergo Chest X-Ray. It took more tecTB Project was able to interview two prison inmates of Puerto Prince- than a month for Rolly before he was sa City Jail. For the sake of confiden- diagnosed of TB and started on tiality, we will call them by the names DOTS. of Rolly and Eddie. Rolly is 57 years old, was born in Bicol and migrated to Eddie on the other hand, was not that lucky as Rolly. Eddie is 28 years old, Palawan when he was 3 years old. a native of Ilocos region, and was He worked as a carpenter until the brought here by his sibling to work as day he was convicted of rape and a household helper but unluckily was was sentence to serve term at Puerto involved in the murder of their emPrincesa City Jail. ployer. While in jail he experienced He experienced on and off cough for cough, loss of appetite and weight in April of 2011. He was subjected to D These are just two cases of prison inmates who have experienced delays of TB diagnosis because they are screened late by X-ray examination. DetecTB project gives priority to these people because the project believes they don’t deserve delay in TB diagnosis. One of their jail officers was already trained in sputum smearing and once the project starts implementation, the city jail’s more than 400 inmates will be the first beneficiaries of the One-Stop DetecTB Service where TB will be diagnosed with new high-tech diagnostic methods with the same day. What is DetecTB Project? etecTB stands for “Diagnostic Enhanced Tools for Extra Cases of Tuberculosis”. The project is funded by the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) in collaboration with the Department of Health, World Health Organization, Korean Institute of TB and the local government units of Palawan Province and Puerto Princesa City. Flourescence Microscope (LED-FM) and molecular identification of TB bacilli through the Genexpert. With the use the following technology, the project also aims to improve the turnaround time for TB diagnosis to only within one day. The current NTP protocol takes about a week or more to diagnose TB, depending on the need for Chest X-ray and referral to the TB Diagnostic Committee (TBDC). The project’s main objective is to increase case detection of all forms of TB to 10% or more in target areas. The project will employ modern, fast and reliable diagnostic equipment such as digital Chest Radiography, Light Emitting Diode- The mobile clinic Delivery of the DetecTB services is through a mobile clinic equipped with the abovementioned diagnostic tools. All the diagnostic equipments are available inside the mobile clinic including X-Ray Machine connected to a computer for digital imagery. The laboratory, aside from the LED Flourescent Micrscope and Genexpert machine also has a slide warmer, biosafety cabinet and refrigerator where sputum can be stored temporarily. The Genexpert machine is attached to a UPS to ensure nonwastage of cartridges in case of power interruption which is common in the province. DetecTB: INNOVATION In TB Detection Target Population of DetecTB The marginalized sector and people highly vulnerable to Tuberculosis more often have poor access to TB diagnostic services. These include the indigenous peoples, prison inmates, urban and rural poor, and people living in congested communities. The project aims to give priority to these groups in the conduct of TB case finding when the DetecTB operate in the field. Palawan has a high number of indigenous peoples which include Palawan, Tagbanua, Batak, Tau’t Bato, Panimusan, Molbog, Cuyunin and Agutaynin. The Municipality of Aborlan, which is adjacent to Puerto Princesa City and an hour drive from the heart of the city has the most number of indigenous peoples which accounts for about half of the population of the town. With regards to prison inmates, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm is one of the institutions managed by the Bureau of Corrections that has a large population of around two thousand. Also within Puerto Princesa City are two prisons where each team can conduct their active case finding among inmates. These are the Palawan Provincial jail which has an average population of 800 and Puerto Princesa City Jail with around 400 inmates. Mobile teams’ training in Korea The Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Palawan and City Health Office (CHO) of Puerto Princesa City each formed a team which is composed of two Physicians, one Nurse, one Medical Technologist and one Radiologic Technologist. Palawan PHO Dr. Louie Ocampo, Team Leader Dr. Eduardo Cruz Ms. Pamela Garcia, Nurse Mr. Cyrus Caabay, Medical Technologist Mr. Herminio Bitara, Jr , Radiologic Technologist Puerto Princesa CHO Dr. Juancho Monserate, City Health Officer Dr. Janeth Reston, Team Leader Dr. Dean Palanca Ms. Mary Joy Tianchon, Nurse Dr. Francisco Ogsimer Jr., presenting the DetecTB Operational Guidelines. WHO/WR-PHL staff under the supervision of Dr. Woojin Lew, STB Medical Officer. In the succeeding days, the team members had separate sessions with experts from Korean Institute of TB (KIT) and Korea National TB Association (KNTA) depending on their professional role in the mobile team. The physicians were acquainted on reading digital Chest X-ray images of TB cases, the medical technologists on how to operate the Genexpert and the radiologic technologist on the digital X-ray machine. The two teams together with the WHO-KOFIH Project Coordinator, Dr. Francisco Ogsimer, Jr., were sent to Korea for two weeks, May 28 - June 9, 2012 to train on the use of a mobile clinic. First days were spent The team was able to witness operaon the discussion of the Operational tions of a centralized X-Ray reading Guidelines which was developed by facility where digital images from different health care facilities and institutions are received through the internet. The two teams also had the opportunity to observe how the mobile clinics of KNTA operated in two institutions, one that cares for the elderly and a school for college students. Dr. Woojin Lew, discussing the DetecTB Diagnostic Protocol during discussion of Operational Guidelines. 2 Advocacy Meeting with Local Officials O ne of the criteria for selecting target areas by the PHO and CHO is the 2011 case detection rate. Among the municipalities selected are mostly from the southern part of Palawan namely: Aborlan, Narra, Rizal, Espaňola, Bataraza, Brooke’s Point and one from the north, Taytay. The DetecTB team of Palawan Province together with the WHO-KOFIH Project support staff visited every municipality from July 16 – 20, 2012 to conduct courtesy call and advocacy meeting with the local officials. Mayor Jaime Ortega of Aborlan and Mayor Zenaida Gomez of Espanola were among the local chief executives (LCEs) whom the team were Target areas of Puerto Princesa City able to talk with during the visit. include the four Barangays with peMayor Ortega even encouraged the nal colonies such as Iwahig, Sta. Barangay Officials of Aborlan to proLucia, Montible, and Inagawan and vide necessary support during the those with big population of targeted implementation of the project. group namely Tanabag, Concepcion, Bagong Silang, Langugan, Mabuhay In other municipalities, the Sanguniat Pagkakaisa. an Bayan members (municipal coun- Aborlan Mayor Jaime Ortega addressing his constituents during one of the advocacy meetings held July 16, 2012 at Magsaysay Hall. cilors) and Barangay Officials were present. The WHO-KOFIH Project Coordinator provided information regarding the project and solicited the needed support from their end. Part of the advocacy meeting is the signing of the “DetecTB Pledge of Commitment and Support”. The City advocacy meeting was held in Asturias Hotel on September 4, 2012. This was attended by Vice Mayor Lucilo Bayron and SB Member Miguel Cuarderno. Ms. Hyun Kyong Kim, Manager of Project Operations of KOFIH was present to discuss a brief introduction of KOFIH as the funding agency. Dr. Ogsimer, Project Coordinator and Dr. Ed Cruz having courtesy call with Mayor Zenaida Gomez of Municipality of Española. Ms. Hyun Kyong Kim, presenting the Introduction of Korea Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH) during City Advocacy Meeting. Orientation/Training of target areas’ health workers and field assistants day orientation / training among selected health workers to provide capacity to assist in field operations. September 5, 2012, both in A&A Hotel, Puerto Princesa City. The participants were oriented on the project operations and several forms that will be used. They were also taught on how to perform several procedures and their role when the team visits their area. In the conduct of field operations, some health workers of target areas will be requested to assist the mobile teams. These will include organizing of clients, conduct of interview, signing of consent, health eduFor the Provincial team the activity cation and others. The WHO-KOFIH was conducted on July 24, 2012 project support staff together with the DetecTB teams conducted a one while the City team was done on 3 DetecTB: INNOVATION In TB Detection Field Training Prior to the actual field implementation, the DetecTB teams were able to experience actual field implementation under the supervision of technical experts from WHO and Korea. The WHO, through Dr. Woojin Lew and a Korean team observed the DetecTB teams’ field performance. The field training was done on August 27 - 31, 2012 at the Provincial Jail and Puerto Princesa City Jail. Several inmates were requested to act as subjects for this purpose. Both Provincial and City teams were able to serve 212 inmates within a period of four days. Dr. Hee Jin Kim, headed the Korean team during field training. The last day, August 31, was utilized to discuss technical issues and concerns that need to be addressed. The activity was conducted at Skylight Hotel in Puerto Princesa City. How will DetecTB operate? The two teams will use the DetecTB service bus alternately for one week. Coordination will be done with local officials at least one week prior to the field visit. Initial target for the first few months of operations will be 50 clients per day. The teams will setup a suitable area to accommodate clients. In case there are no covered working area (e.g., covered court or gymnasium), available canopy tents will be used. The WHO project sup- port staff will oversee the operations of the two teams and will report and coordinate all activities to major partners. 4 Training of Smearers Health Workers practicum on sputum smear preparation. Ms. Cadiente, facilitated the recapitulation of day 1 training, prepared questions were written in pieces of paper for the participants to pick and answer. One of the identified needs for field activities are additional human resources such as smearers who will assist the Medical Technologist in doing smearing of sputum for LEDFM reading. In case of high workload, the Medical Technologist might not be able to cope with all the task, thus, the DetecTB project decided to conduct a training of smearers who will help the Medical Technologist in the conduct of smear preparation.The Medical Technologist will perform two confirmatory test for TB, sputum microscopy and Genexpert. from Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm and Puerto Princesa City Jail which are two of the priority sites of the project. The WHO-KOFIH Project support team together Palawan PHO and Puerto Princesa CHO facilitated the conduct of the training of smearers which was attended by 12 Barangay Health Workers from target municipalities (Rizal, Taytay and Aborlan), 3 selected laboratory aides from the City Health Office, one nurses each Facilitators of the training were Mr. Cyrus Caabay, Provincial Mobile Team Med. Tech, Ms. Jocelyn Calalin, City Mobile Team Med. Tech, Ms. Jojie Cadiente, Carmona Med. Tech, Ms. Pia Crisolo, Rizal Provincial Med Tech, and Ms. Rio Oriel, Laguna Provincial Med Tech. The training was conducted at Bulwagang Princesa Tourist Inn and Restaurant on September 25-27, 2012. The training provided capacity to the participants in performing quality sputum smearing taking into consideration quality assurance system standards. Several participants were not able to join the training due to flooding in most parts of Palawan cause by heavy rains before the start of the training. the project. The Puerto Princesa City tory and Ms. Jocelyn Sosito, Senior launching was held at Asturias Hotel Health Program Officer of Bureau of in the afternoon. International Health Cooperation. Included among the Korean continHeads and representatives of partner gent are officers of KOFIH and meagencies graced the two events. dia reporters who covered the story These inlude Dr. Pauline Jean Rosell and conducted interviews of key perUbial, Assistant Secretary of the sonalities. DOH; Dr. Gloria Balboa, Director of Center for Health Development 4B; The following day after the launching, Dr. Lee Soo-Ku, President of KOFIH; the DetecTB teams conducted a DetecTB Launching Mr. Ahn Jeong In, Director of KOFIH; demonstration of the field operation The project was officially launched on Dr. John Patrick Ehrenberg, Director in the Provicial Jail. This was witSeptember 18, 2012 with two sepaof Combating Communicable Dinessed by the Dr. Lee Soo-Ku and rate ceremonies for Palawan Prosease Division of WHO-WPRO; Dr. other officers of KOFIH. vince and Puerto Princesa City. The Woojin Lew, Medical Officer of Provincial launching was held in the StopTB and Leprosy Elimination of morning at Legend Hotel which was WHO/WR-PHL. hosted by the Honorable Governor Included among the guests are DOH Abraham Kahlil V. Mitra who delirepresentatives namely Dr. Rosalind vered a speech expressing his support to the project and committing to Vianzon, Manager of the National TB Program, Dr. Noel Macalalad, Head utilize whatever resources the Province have to ensure the success of of the National TB Reference Labora- 5 The WHO Philippines– DetecTB: INNOVATION In TB Detection Dr. Soe Nyunt-U, WHO Representative in the Philippines Dr. Woojin Lew, Medical Officer, STB – Leprosy Elimination Madeleine Oriondo, Secretary Dr. Francisco Ogsimer Jr., Project Coordinator, WHO-KOFIH Project Lenie Infante, Project Assistant, WHO-KOFIH Project Korea Foundation for International Health Care Hyunkyong Kim, Manager Chanhee Kim, Deputy Manager Palawan PHO Dr. Louie Ocampo, OIC-PHO,Team Leader Dr. Eduardo Cruz Pamela Garcia, Nurse Cyrus Cecilio Caabay, Medical Technologist Herminio Bitara Jr., Radiologic Technologist Puerto Princesa CHO Dr. Juancho Monserate, City Health Officer Dr. Janeth Reston, Team Leader Dr. Dean Palanca Mary Joy Tianchon, Nurse Jocelyn Calalin, Medical Technologist Walter Gonzales, Radiologic Technologist The DetecTB project is funded by the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) in collaboration with the World Health Organization, Department of Health, Korean Institute of TB and the local government units of Palawan Province and Puerto Princesa City . For questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact WHO-KOFIH Project through: Address: G/F Building 3, Department of Health Compound, Sta. Cruz Manila
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