TUGUEGARAO CITY, March 17 (PIA) — The Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (PMDT) inaugurated and launched the new TB drug resistant satellite treatment center at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center last March 15.

Dr. Vivian Lofranco, operations manager of PMDT, said the satellite treatment center will serve patients from all over Cagayan Valley Region and its neighboring provinces, Kalinga and Apayao.

She explained that the center caters to referred drug resistant patients from the rural health units, district hospitals, private and other public hospitals free of charge as to medical examinations, medicines, doctors fee and hospital fee.

“TB drug resistant patients are those who are taking medicines in a long period of time but the TB causing bacteria is still present. So they need to undergo continuous medications for 18 up to two years religiously,” Lofranco said.

The CVMC, which is the regional government hospital in Cagayan Valley, provided an isolation room to ensure protection of other patients from infection of the transferable disease.

Dr. Emmanuel Acluba, chief of hospital, said there are 185 re-treatment cases in the region and twenty percent of them are suspected drug resistant patients who need to undergo the process of treatment to eradicate TB.

Acluba also encouraged TB suspected patients to present themselves for examinations at the CVMC to treat immediately the disease and avoid reaching drug resistant stage.

He also assured that all TB patients will be given due service, whether out-patient or confined free of charge.