Only 500-plus TB cases detected since ’96

There have only been a little over 500 cases of infectious tuberculosis recorded in the CNMI since 1996, based on records kept by the Alien Health Program of the Department of Public Health.

Division of Public Health medical director Richard Brostrom said that most cases of tuberculosis are “imported,” with majority of patients coming from the Philippines and China.

Approximately 206 Filipinos in the CNMI have been diagnosed with the disease while 126 Chinese had it.

Brostrom said the figures are based on monitoring made from 1998 to 2004.

Among CNMI residents, 81 cases have been recorded, while 33 and 28 other cases were posted for other Pacific Islands and all other countries.

Brostrom presented the figures during the Workers’ Health and Safety Conference held last week at the World Resort Saipan Diamond Hall. He presented the tuberculosis burden and the achievements of the Alien Health Program in the CNMI.

Brostrom said that medication and care are all provided to these patients.

“There would never be an excuse for a patient not to be given treatment in the CNMI. The local government has committed to ensure that the community would receive treatment for tuberculosis at no cost,” he said.

Of the other successes of the Alien Health Program, Brostrom said the program has detected a number of workers with HIV infection and directed them to care in their home country.

The health program also boasts of treatment and cure for hundreds of cases of syphilis. Brostrom said the program has also diagnosed thousands of contract workers with treatable chronic diseases such as diabetes, preventing the onset of serious health consequences.

The AHP’s future challenges include improving tuberculosis care with latent treatment, elimination of redundant testing of illnesses, more aggressive public health preparedness for pandemic flu, SARS and bioterrorism. The program is also continuously monitoring illegal importation of medicines and malpractice prevention.

The CNMI Alien Health Program, said Brostrom, has paired with the CNMI’s public and private medical systems to obtain improved compliance and improved service to the community. He said the program also requires continued cooperation between large employers and the DPH in order to protect employees and residents in the CNMI from communicable diseases.