The Medical City’s DOTS Unit is a special diagnostic and therapeutic unit catering for patients diagnosed or suspected of having tuberculosis.  Endorsed by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH), DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy Short Course) has been acknowledged as the best strategy for managing patients with tuberculosis. Based on a review of The Medical City’s hospital statistics, tuberculosis ranks consistently among the annual top 20 reasons for admission and consult among in-patients and out-patients.  Other related cases such as extra pulmonary forms of tuberculosis such as TB adenitis, Pott’s disease, genitor-urinary TB (GUTB) and TB meningitis continue to figure prominently in the census of surgical departments.

This is why, the DOH and The Medical City, in a strategic partnership, developed The Medical City DOTS Unit, a private-public mix endeavor that aligns the hospital’s adherence to accepted standards of care, and acknowledges the significant contribution of the private health sector in the fight against TB.

Services

DOTS is a strategy that standardizes the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.  It is operated by the standard protocol of both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH) in providing the following services:

• Supervised collection of sputum specimens in a centralized collection area.
• Sputum processing by competent microscopists trained under the DOH.
• Free anti-TB medicines for the entire duration of treatment for a patient diagnosed with active TB.
• Daily supervised intake of anti-TB medicines by DOH-trained staff.

Since the emphasis of the TB program is on patient adherence to treatment, the program encourages patients to take their medicines under the daily direct observation (hence the term “directly observed treatment”) of a treatment partner, preferable a member of the unit staff.  Other treatment partners may be volunteered and trained, such as barangay health workers, the patient’s spouse or other close family members.

Our Team

Edmongino S. Camacho – Manager, Ancillary Services

Raymund J. Tuazon, RN – DOTS Nurse