While this viral infection continue to spread in Asia, particularly in the country at an alarming rate, local officials and certain institutions have joined hands to significantly score against it and make sure the people will be protected.
In Parañaque, as part of the continuing effort to raise awareness against dengue, the Department of Health, Department of Education (DepEd), the Parañaque City government, and in cooperation with Sanofi Pasteur, will continue the roll-out the Dengue Mission Buzz in Parañaque City National High School Main.
The Dengue Mission Buzz is an educational bus that seeks to educate and communicate to Asean communities effective dengue prevention and control, including practical tips that are easy to follow. The initiative was launched during the 5th Asean Dengue Day in LaoPDR last June 15, 2015 as a way to engage communities in the ASEAN region to improve public understanding of the disease and its prevention. The bus has travelled to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and now the Philippines covering 4,000 kms numerous to more than 30 communities, reaching millions of individuals. In the Philippines, the Buzz was rolled out in Quezon City to a boisterous affair.
The Dengue Mission Buzz roll-out in the Philippines will signal the continuing collaboration of the Department of Health, Department of Education, local government units, and other key stakeholders in raising dengue education and awareness among the youth and different communities at risk for the disease. The launch is timely as it usually during the rainy season when the number of dengue cases rise. It supports key messages of the DOH’s 4-o’Clock Habit Campaign which enjoins everyone to “Stop, Look, and Listen” against Dengue.
STOP at 4:00 PM
LOOK inside and outside of the house to search and destroy possible mosquito breeding places; and
LISTEN to barangay officials about dengue prevention strategies to be implemented at the barangay.
The activity showcases the Dengue Mission Buzz as the centerpiece of the event. There will be a health talk designed to educate the participants with key information on dengue that will empower them to be active crusaders against the disease.
“There is a need to step up dengue preventive measures. By actively collaborating to actively support public educational initiatives that seek to raise awareness against the disease, government and the partners in the private sector can make a difference in reducing the burden of the disease. We welcome initiatives such as the Dengue Mission Buzz that offers useful tips on dengue prevention and aims to empower communities to take action against dengue,” said the DOH Spokesman and concurrent Dengue Prevention and Control Program Manager, Director Lyndon Lee Suy.
Suy stressed that the cooperation of the LGUs and the community is needed to succeed in their efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of dengue, and the proper means to control and prevent the disease. When asked about the the release in the market of the dengue vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur, Suy said that it may be available before the year ends.
For his part, Mayor Edwin Olivarez of Paranaque called on his constituents to be proactive against dengue by observing the 4 o clock habit. “Only with active involvement of the community can we defeat dengue” extolled the mayor.
In Taguig City, antidengue programs include a relentless efforts to cleanup esteros and other waste water systems, drainage declogging and segregating of household garbage by eliminating plastics, bottles and newspapers then recycled or sold to junk shops.
The Solid Waste Management Office has been consistent in implementing these measures that help reduce, or even eliminate, the breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
As a result, city officials proudly report that the number of dengue cases in Taguig City suddenly decreased by 60 percent for the first seven (7) months of this year compared to what was recorded for the same period in 2014.
Mayor Lani Cayetano also bared that four barangays in the city recorded no incidence of dengue, which she said may explain the sharp decline of cases from 390 in January to July last year to only 157 in the same period this year.
She added the vigilance of both the local government and the community in conscientiously cleaning up possible breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes made the decline possible.
Among the 28 barangays in Taguig, four villages—Ligid-Tipas, Napindan, San Miguel and Tuktukan—registered a 100-percent dengue-free community with zero dengue case reported for the first half of this year.
Cayetano, however, asked the households to intensify the “search-and-destroy” operations in their barangays to decrease the number of potential breeding sites of aedes aegypti mosquitos that transmit the dengue virus to people.
She explained that households should identify the breeding sites in and out of their houses and dispose of non-essential containers likes bottles, plastics, old tires, tin cans and cups and water vases.
Residents should also keep containers that are still being used covered at all times, unclog roof gutters and discharge stagnant water out of roof drainage and canals and monitor the remaining breeding sites daily for the presence of larva.