THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) has again cited the Climaco administration for topping in the anti-tuberculosis (TB) campaign in the whole of the Zamboanga Peninsula region despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zamboanga City was also the sole recipient of the “Population Testing Rate Award” for garnering the highest percentage of the population tested for TB last year.
And even in the midst of the local government efforts to completely eliminate the deadly Covid-19 and prevent the further spread of the deadly respiratory disease, the Climaco administration has not lost sight of its priority programs that benefit the Zamboangueño people.
Considering the restrictions and the challenges posed by the pandemic on the anti-TB campaign, the local government though the City Health Office and Barangay Health Workers and others who were involved in the program, managed to vaccinate majority of its population against the lung disease.
TB is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or talks.
The DOH awarded the local government during recent fete for the region’s top performers in the fight against TB.
The Zamboanga City Medical Center also took the silver medallion under the Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment Success Award with a rate of 78%.
The Race to End TB campaign was launched in April 2019 in a bid to finally end the infectious disease that continues to be a major public health problem in the country despite being both preventable and curable.
Just recently, DOH Assistant Secretary Romeo Ong congratulated the local government for keeping the number of active Covid cases below 100. “I congratulate the City (Government of Zamboanga) for keeping the active cases to below 100, we should not keep our guards down, especially on our borders,” he said.
Ong also urged residents to follow the strict health protocols, especially now that Covid cases spiked in other parts of the country.
“This pandemic proves again this is not only a national, but a global challenge. The virus recognizes no national boundaries, no difference in political system, in culture, in religion whatsoever. It attacks all of us the same way. So there is an even greater need for closer and more effective cooperation, it has to be a whole of government and whole of society approach,” he said.
“My message is to always keep the minimum health standards, keep masks and face shields on, social distance and washing of hands. No matter whether it is the variant or not, it is the same virus and the transmission is the same. For our health care workers, get vaccinated. We are about to go to the next batch of vaccines,” Ong added.
Climaco said the “raging battle” to stop, if not reduce the spread of the deadly respiratory virus and other Covid variants, is not only the work of government alone, but of everyone as everybody is vulnerable to the dreaded disease.
She again reminded residents not to be complacent and always use face mask and face shield in public places, and sanitize or wash hands with soap and water frequently, and comply with the community quarantine guidelines. “I am enjoining the public to please cooperate with and help government in the implementation of these health protocols,” she said.
City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite also echoed the same appeal. “While we have the vaccines, this is no time to relax and we still have to practice proper wearing of face mask and face shield, practice hand hygiene and observe physical distancing. Until we get 70% of our population vaccinated, we will not be really protected from infection and surges,” she said. (Zamboanga Post, Claudine Uniana)
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