CHO heightens drive vs dengue

To curb the rising number of dengue cases in the city, the City Health Office (CHO), through its Tropical Disease Division, is intensifying its campaign as provided by the City Ordinance No. 0401 series of 2020.

The ordinance institutionalizes the CHO’s Mosquito-Borne Viral Disease Prevention and Control program and mandates the collaboration of all relevant agencies in strengthening the campaign against dengue. It also highlights the role of all concerned agencies, especially those of barangay governments, in conducting community-level prevention and intervention measures.

CHO Tropical Disease Division Head Melodina Babante, during the I-Speak Media Forum on Thursday, said the CHO Tropical Disease Division has begun orienting barangay officials and other stakeholders in the Inter-Agency Task Force for Mosquito-Borne Viral Disease Prevention and Control as specified in the ordinance.

“Gina-focus diri ang mga buhaton nga dili lang City Health Office ang mubuhat sa pag-control og pag-intervene aning dengue nga kaso sa Davao City kung dili apil na ang atong mga barangay. Kay magsugod gyud ang atong mga intervention didto sa barangay (This focuses on the duties that not only the City Health Office must control and intervene in the dengue cases in Davao City but also our barangays. This is because intervention must really start in the barangay),” she said.

On October 12, the CHO gathered barangay functionaries from all 182 barangays in the city for an orientation seminar on establishing an effective Dengue Task Force in the barangay. According to Babante only 38 of these barangays (five from District 1, eight from District 2, and 25 from District 3) have an active dengue task force. These barangays, she said, have been shown to have the lowest number of dengue cases in the city.

The program’s Inter-Agency Task Force composed of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), City Engineer’s Office, Ancillary Services Unit, among others are assigned to assist in the implementation of the ordinance. The agencies are also tasked to implement the program in years to come.

As of September 2023, Davao City has logged 4,953 dengue cases, which is double the 2,400 cases recorded last year for the same period. A total of 38 deaths due to the disease has been recorded in the city as of September this year, significantly higher than the 7 recorded for the same duration in 2022. CIO