Collaboration needed to rout dengue

When Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and the chief executives elected last May 13 begin their terms of office today, public health should be among their top priorities.

The wet season, when rains raise the number of water-logged areas in the city has once again witnessed a spike in the number of cases of dengue fever across Cebu.

From January to June this year, the Integrated Provincial and Health Office recorded 1752 cases of dengue in Cebu province, with Carcar City being the most affected.

The figures for the province is twice the number recorded in the same period last year.

In Cebu City, barangay Guadalupe in the south district registered the highest number of dengue cases, said Dr. Raymona Ogan, dengue specialist of the City Health Department.

We commend government doctors for their doing the rounds of media outfits to educate Cebuanos about dengue.

Messages conveyed through the mass media, however, are not always guaranteed to spur audiences to action.

The governor, mayors as well as barangay captains must lead their constituents in the fight against dengue by ordering health inspectors to ensure that their jurisdictions are cleansed of dark and damp places where dengue-carrying mosquitoes hide and drained of stagnant water where these disease vectors lay eggs.

The Dengue Task Force chaired by Dr. Wyben Briones will place chemical larvicides in mosquito breeding sites this mid-August.

Local health officials who are more familiar with the terrain should make haste and coordinate with the organization in mapping out these sites.

Elected leaders have a moral obligation to offer logistical support and facilitate the release of necessary funds for this initiative.

Further, Governor Davide and other officials should take the periodic spikes in registered cases of dengue and other diseases as motivation to build more hospitals and improve the state of the ones that were poorly served in previous administrations.

It is not yet two years since at least 13 people died in Cebu City due to to a dengue outbreak that afflicted thousands and led Mayor Rama to declare a state of calamity.

People should be vigilant to avoid disease, or worse, death. Not even dengue survivors are guaranteed immunity considering that there are four strains of dengue.

The fight against dengue will get a big boost from decisive leadership and cooperative communities.