Negros Oriental Gov. Rogel Degamo has asked the health sector, through the Provincial Health Office, to increase anti-dengue efforts throughout the province in the wake of the rainy season this year.
This developed following a meeting by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) Wednesday during which Provincial Health Officer Dr. Edgardo Barredo briefed the council on the status of dengue cases in the province.
Disasters related to the health sector are now part of the PDRRMC’s concerns and as such, the provincial government, through the PDRRMC, has allocated P500,000 in funds for the anti-dengue campaign, said Capitol spokesperson Adrian Sedillo.
The additional funding is on top of the regular budget allocated to the local health sector to combat dengue, a viral disease that is transmitted to humans via mosquito carriers.
In his briefing, Dr. Barredo disclosed that dengue cases reported from Jan. 1 to June this year were lower by 76 percent than in the same period last year.
The number of fatalities in the province due to dengue, also for the same period, dropped at two deaths compared to last year with six, Barredo said.
The two deaths due to dengue were from Bais City and Dumaguete City, he added.
Dr. Maria Sarah Talla, City Health Officer of Dumaguete, earlier disclosed a decrease in dengue cases with 58 recorded from Jan. 1 to June 14 as opposed to 384 cases for the same period last year.
Dr. Barredo told the PDRRMC that health authorities are now embarking on barangay-based efforts to prevent dengue cases from rising.
He sounded the call for all community sectors to once again adopt the 4″ºS strategy against dengue, namely: Search and destroy breeding grounds of mosquitoes; Seek early treatment; Self-protective measures such the use of mosquito repellant lotion; and Say No to indiscriminate fogging.
PHO current records show that Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental, topped the list of 10 local government units with the highest number of dengue cases at 134 (with one death) as of this writing.
Trailing behind Dumaguete are Sibulan with 48 cases; Tanjay City, 37; Guihulngan City, 22; Bacong, 19; Amlan and San Jose, 15 each; Bais City, 14 (with one death); Siaton, 13; and Valencia with eight dengue cases. (PNA/JFP)
