MANILA, Philippines--The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will start to deploy today health workers to different detention facilities in Metro Manila to attend to inmates afflicted with tuberculosis (TB).
“This is part of our efforts to help contain, prevent and cure TB within our jails,” BJMP-National Capital Region Director Chief Superintendent Benito Dorigo said.
BJMP records show that TB is the second leading cause of death among inmates in Philippine jails, next to cardio-respiratory arrest.
Last year, 24 inmates died of TB in the different NCR jails, while this year, from January to the present alone, ten inmates have succumbed because of this illness,” Dorigo said.
Tuberculosis or TB is an infectious disease caused by the “tubercle bacilli” bacteria which affect the lungs but may also attack any part of the body like the bones, intestines, and kidneys.
Dorigo said the bureau’s health care workers who were trained on the conduct of Direct Sputum Smear Microscopy (DSSM) examination on suspected TB inmates shall closely monitor the progress of patients receiving anti-TB treatment until they are cured from the disease.
“Before, we only refer suspected TB patients to health clinics and hospitals, but now, the jail itself can be a treatment site because of the training of our health workers on DSSM,” he said.
Dorigo said a separate area in the jail shall be designated as a treatment site for prisoners with TB. - By Dennis Carcamo
