Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that does not discriminate. It can affect individuals of any age, appearance, gender, or socioeconomic status.
Indigenous people (IP) groups are also vulnerable to TB, facing additional challenges in accessing healthcare services due to their remote locations. Residents of the Marilog District in Davao City exemplify this struggle.
“Hospitals are far away from our community. It takes us a long time to go to the city,” said Edgardo Laygan, a respected elder of the Manobo Tribe. He noted that members of his community often turn to herbal remedies for relief, yet these treatments are inadequate for addressing TB.
Rubin Tambara, an elder from the Bagobo Klata tribe, echoed the same sentiment. “Geographical isolation and transportation are primary hurdles that we face when it comes to finding TB treatment,” he said.
Barangay health stations are responsible for monitoring the health conditions in areas inhabited by IPs, according to a press release from the Department of Health (DOH). However, these facilities function with limited capacity regarding TB treatment.
Evelyn Gelito, the TB program manager at DOH Davao, indicated that comprehensive TB treatment necessitates that IPs travel to their nearest municipal health center, which can incur significant transportation costs, potentially reaching up to P1,000 per trip.
Data from the Davao office of the health department showed there were over 21,146 reported cases of tuberculosis in the Davao Region in 2024, with 8,601 cases coming from Davao City.
TB continues to pose a significant health challenge in certain remote barangays where IP communities reside, including the districts of Calinan, Baguio, Tugbok, and Toril A.
About one million Filipinos have active TB. This is the third highest prevalence rate in the world – after South Africa and Lesotho. “Every day, more than 70 people lose their lives to TB needlessly,” deplores Dr. Gundo Weiler, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Philippines.
By 2030, the Geneva-based United Nations health agency wants to finally end TB from all over the world. “Yet, the Philippines is among the few countries where the number of people with TB continues to increase every year,” Dr. Weiler laments.
TB may be common in the Philippines and yet there are still so many people who are not aware of it. This lack of knowledge about TB is one of the reasons why it is still prevalent in the country today.
Even though the facts surrounding TB are now known in the medical community, there are still many myths circulating. These myths are what makes people hesitate to get tested for TB from the start. In addition, many of these myths are mystical and not medically proven. As a result, many receive treatment late.
TB transmission is caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. The bacteria flourish in regions of the body that have a high concentration of blood and oxygen, particularly the lungs. But the TB bacteria are not limited to the lungs; they can also impact various organs throughout the body, such as the kidneys, brain, spine, and others.
Actually, there are two types of tuberculosis: pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB. The most prevalent type of tuberculosis is pulmonary tuberculosis, which affects the lungs. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis, on the other hand, affects the brain, bones, muscles, and lymph nodes.
According to health experts, extrapulmonary tuberculosis presents greater challenges in terms of identification and treatment compared to pulmonary tuberculosis.
TB is a disease of the past. Among those who died of it were Emily Bronte, George Orwell, Henry David Thoreau, John Keats, Jane Austen, Franz Kafka, Frederic Chopin, Kahlil Gibran, D.H. Lawrence, and Albert Camus.
In the Philippines, the most famous personality who died of it was President Manuel L. Quezon. The most recent who died of it was movie actor Rene Requistas.
In 1882, Dr. Robert Koch, a German microbiologist, announced his discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. This significant finding laid the foundation for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Nearly 140 years later, the battle against TB continues.
What most people don’t know is that 99% of those afflicted with TB can achieve recovery through standard treatment protocols within a timeframe of 6 to 9 months, despite the chronic nature of the disease which necessitates a prolonged healing process.
For patients diagnosed with an active infection, medical professionals typically recommend a regimen of antibacterial medications lasting between 6 to 12 months. A frequently utilized combination includes isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol.
For certain illnesses, such as measles and chickenpox, a single occurrence of the disease provides lifelong immunity. It was previously thought that individuals who had recovered from TB possessed some degree of immunity against future infections and illnesses.
However, it is now widely recognized within the medical community that individuals who have recovered from TB do not have significant protection against subsequent infections and diseases.
Health experts cautioned that if treatment is not adhered to consistently, the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis may only be temporarily subdued, leading to the potential reactivation of the infection and the development of resistance to anti-TB medications. This situation is referred to as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR-TB.—
