Antique Provincial Health has made the province a leader in implementing Region 6’s TB Control program after they recorded 93% of detection rate in the last year.

Antique Provincial Health Officer Ric Noel Naciongayo believed that disease control program in recent years reflects the extraordinary implementation of policies and usage of resources in combating the disease.

World Health Organization has been funding this TB-DoTS program under which a supervised treatment is given along with a responsible person to make sure that the patient takes anti-TB medication every day.

The data collected by the Antique Provincial Health Office suggests that children who are under the age of nine are most vulnerable to this disease.

Dr. Ed Cruz, Provincial Health Officer said, “The public-private partnership, the good collaboration between and among the partners, was able to up the cure rate of the disease from 63.08% in 2009 to 65.69% in 2010”.

People with symptoms of the disease are examined under this program and if anybody is found positive in that test then he is given free medication.

Though Tuberculosis is still in the top ten of the leading causes of mortality in the province but it was no more listed in the top ten leading causes of morbidity in 2008 and 2009.