New Quezon City jail facility for inmates with TB
The overcrowded Quezon City jail has received much-needed space and services for close to 150 inmates currently stricken with tuberculosis (TB).
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which oversees the implementation of the National TB Control Program in the jail, formally opened last week a 211-square-meter infirmary and isolation ward that can accommodate up to 60 patients at a time.
Located on the top floor of the jail’s annex building, the facility has at least five treatment rooms for patients afflicted with different types of TB.
It also has a small room where sputum is collected, reducing the risk of infection. A sputum laboratory would also enable the jail administrators to identify any newly infected inmate.
“The jail will serve as an example of best practices in managing TB in Philippine detention facilities,” said Dr. Gegham Petrosyan, the ICRC health coordinator in the country.
“All inmates affected with TB used to be held in a small isolation room, which created a greater risk of detainees with multidrug-resistant TB infecting others. Overcrowded detention facilities being an effective breeding ground for the spread of TB, the ICRC recognized the necessity of working with jail authorities to improve infection control,” Petrosyan added.
“This is what we want to have in each and every jail in the country, because while we undertake initiatives to rehabilitate our inmates, we should also focus on their health needs,” Interior Secretary Secretary Jesse Robredo said.
The Quezon City jail has a current population of 2,800 inmates, of whom 144 are infected with TB.
The ICRC said it has been visiting Philippine jails for more than 50 years and takes note of the conditions not only of ordinary inmates but also of people detained as a result of armed conflicts and violence.
The jail visits seek to monitor the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees.
In 2007, the ICRC launched an initiative to address overcrowding in jails, its causes and its consequences for the health and living conditions of detainees.—Jerome Aning, DJ Yap
