There might be some truth to the saying, "No news is good news," but does it apply to diseases like tuberculosis?

A doctor has lamented the inattention of the Philippine media to tuberculosis, saying the media prefer the more sensational diseases such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, mad cow disease and bird flu.

"The media is numb with news about TB these days," said Dr. Jupert Benedicto, chair of the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis, a coalition of 65 groups to include medical societies, as well as government and non-government organizations.

Speaking during the launching of the Public-Private Mix TB Directly Observed Treatment Short Course center of the Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City last Wednesday, Benedicto said that while the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome killed a total of 814 lives from 2003 to 2004 and the mad cow disease claimed one life -- which was not even that of a human being but of a cow , TB kills 75 Filipinos every day.

The 1999 National Prevalence Survey showed that 47.4 percent of Filipinos were infected with the disease which is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. Tuberculosis is the most common major infectious disease today, infecting two billion people or one-third of the world's population, with nine million new cases of active disease annually.

The neglect of TB control programs, HIV/AIDS, and immigration has caused a resurgence of tuberculosis. Multiple drug resistant strains of TB are emerging. The World Health Organization declared TB a global health emergency in 1993.

"TB continues to kill three million people worldwide every year and it is, in fact, a bigger problem," Benedicto said.

But there is good news in the country's fight against TB. The Philippines has gone down two notches--from seventh to ninth--in the list of countries which have incidences of TB.

TB has also gone down from fifth to sixth in the leading causes of death in the Philippines, which has been attributed to a 75 percent detection rate and an 85 percent cure rate.

"We have to maintain this record for 10 years for us to cut the TB problem in half," Benedicto said.

The Public-Private Mix Dots Center, which is scheduled to start operations in mid-February, will give free anti-TB medicines every day for six months to patients enrolled under this program. This program aims at ensuring that TB patients will take their medicines every day for the entire duration of the treatment course.

"The tendency of TB patients is to stop taking medication when they start feeling well, even if they have not yet finished the required treatment course," said Dr. Ma. Lourdes Estolloso-Ursos, the TB DOTS Center chief of the Silliman Medical Center.

Benedicto said that the country needs to pursue an aggressive anti-TB drive which should not slacken, even when the signs look good. "TB is a deceiving disease. When you think it's going down, it will go up," he warned.

Benedicto said he has reason to believe that the country can eliminate TB in the country through the re-energized drive against the disease, the commitment of the health care workers and the launching of TB DOTS clinics throughout the country.

While the TB DOTS center of the Silliman Medical Center is the first and, so far, the only center of its kind in Oriental Negros, Gov. George Arnaiz pledged to replicate the TB DOTS set-up at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.

The TB DOTS center's operation will also be supported by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.*AP

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