BY: FAYETTE C. RIÑEN
CEBU CITY, March 19 (PIA) --- A
check worth P600,000 has been turned over to the Bureau of Jail Management and
Penology (BJMP-7) by the Department of Health (DOH-7) yesterday afternoon for
the construction of separate isolated cells for inmates with tuberculosis (TB).
Jocelyn Tabotabo, TB regional
coordinator of DOH-7, said the amount covers the construction of three more TB
cells worth P200,000 each.
“Since 2010, the DOH-7 has funded the
construction of about 14 separate TB cells all over the region with the total
worth of nine million pesos,” said Tabotabo.
Except for the TB cell in the Cebu City
Jail valued between P1.2 to P1.4 million, the rest were pegged at P200,000
each, said Tabotabo.
The TB cell inside the Cebu City Jail
is larger compared to the other TB cells due to its huge inmate population,
being the biggest detention center in the region, bared Tabotabo during the
weekly forum of the Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO-7)
yesterday morning that tackled the topic ‘State of Our Jail Facilities and
Addressing the Welfare of Inmates.’
There are 34 jail facilities in Central
Visayas under the management of the BJMP-7 which the DOH-7 hopes to have a
separate TB cell each designed to isolate inmates with the disease in order not
to infect other detainees.
“One untreated TB inmate can infect 10
to 12 other prisoners and this we want to prevent as the disease is highly
infectious,” said the DOH-7 TB coordinator.
The National Tuberculosis Program of
the DOH aims to cut TB mortality rate by 50 percent in 2015 and wants to
achieve zero TB case by 2050, further said Tabotabo as the DOH goes on an
aggressive campaign drive to achieve its short and long-term goals.
Apart from constructing separate TB
cells inside jail facilities as inmates are very vulnerable to developing the
disease, Tabotabo said the DOH also provides free TB drugs spending an average
of P8,000 per TB patient.
Tabotabo said before the year ends, another three TB cells would
be constructed on top of the three TB cells that would be built out of the
P600,000 funding. “In this case, with 14 existing TB cells and six more this
year, the total TB cells by yearend would reach 20,” said Tabotabo adding that
soon, each jail facility in the region would housed its own separate TB cell.
(rmn/FCR/PIA-7)