TB IN PRISONS – World-famous dancing inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center groove to the tune of a new TB jingle composed by DOH Region 7 to advocate for treatment adherence. The dancing inmates were also chosen to perform in support of the health agency’s initiative to prevent and control TB in prisons, an enabling environment for the TB bacteria to thrive.

DOUBLE TROUBLE –  Boel Espinas, Nurse Coordinator for TB and HIV control programs in DOH-7, discusses the increasing threat of TB-HIV coinfection to caravan participants in Naga City. 

In celebration of the National Lung Month, the Department of Health – Central Visayas Region (DOH-7) launched on August 24 a Tuberculosis (TB) treatment jingle performed by world-famous Cebu dancing inmates.

Junrey Alayacyac, song composer and Assistant National TB Control Program Nurse Coordinator for DOH-7, said the jingle highlights the need for TB patients to take their medications daily.

“It’s an instructional jingle [that discusses] how we can maintain taking medication for TB, how we can avoid the misconception of TB, and how we can detect TB at an early stage,” he added.

The jingle will be played in city and rural health units that provide basic TB care services and in treatment centers for multidrug-resistant TB across Central Visayas.

TB IN PRISONS
Alayacyac said that the dancing inmates were chosen to perform the jingle because this initiative supports their advocacy of finding and treating TB in prisons, one of the more vulnerable environments for TB bacteria to thrive.

“We are starting our own initiative in propagating proper information inside the jail because the inmates are a very vulnerable population. They’re in an enclosed area, so if somebody is infected with TB, it can easily be transmitted to others,” he said.
One of the dancing inmates who has just been cured of TB in May, echoed Alayacyac’s call for intensified TB awareness in prisons.

“Kasagara sa mga inmates diri kay illiterate. Mahadlok sila muadto sa clinic kay basin unsaon sila. Mao na nga dapat may information drive parte sa TB, (Most of the inmates here are illiterate. They are afraid to go to the clinic unaware of what will be done to them. That’s why there has to be an information drive about TB.),” says Marvin [not his real name] who has been with the dancing inmates for five years.

This makes the TB caravan an important activity for the inmates.

“Pasalamat ko nga dunay TB caravan nga gibuhat kay diri sa prisohan, daghan pa kaayo nagsakit ug TB na wala pa nagpakonsulta, siguro sa kahadlok ug maulaw sila. Maka-motivate ni sa mga inmates nga duha ka semana na nagubo nga muadto sa clinic, (I am thankful for the TB caravan because here in the prison, a lot of those who have TB have not yet consulted with the doctor, maybe because of fear and stigma. This will motivate those who have been coughing for two weeks to visit the clinic,)” adds 43 year-old Marvin.

The dancing inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) have gained worldwide fame after their mob performances of ‘Thriller’ and ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ went viral online.

TB CARAVANS OUTSIDE CEBU CITY
Aside from the launch of the TB treatment jingle at CPDRC, the week-long commemoration of the National Lung Month was marked with three TB caravans in Naga City, Oslob and Tuburan City on August 24, 26 and 27 respectively.

Funded by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the TB caravan gathered more than 600 participants from said areas and were educated on TB burden and prevention through lectures, games and forums.

The TB caravans also conducted rapid HIV testing for participants, underscoring the rising global incidence rate on TB-HIV co-infection.

“We need to emphasize that the number one killer of people living with HIV is TB. We [promote HIV testing], so we can find HIV cases among our TB patients since both diseases have high co-infection rates,” said Boel Espinas, Nurse Coordinator for both TB and HIV control programs in DOH-7.

The week-long TB caravan in Cebu was part of a series of TB awareness campaigns nationwide held to commemorate the National Lung Month and National TB Awareness Month.

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