DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Davao City government will convene all barangay officials, especially from the identified Dengue hotspots, to address the crisis on Dengue starting Tuesday, July 30.
The plan was agreed during the Inter-agency Meeting on Dengue Prevention and Control led by the Office of the Vice Mayor last July 25 at the City Admin Conference Room. It was attended by the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Region, City Health Office (CHO), and other concerned agencies and offices.
“It was the consensus of the group to call the barangay officials (especially) on the hotspot list,” Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte, Chairman of the Health Committee, said.
The meeting was called to gather information on the statistics on Dengue, interventions being done, and what else needs to be done, she noted. The plan to convene the barangay officials will run for three days to cover the entire 182 villages in the city.
Data from the CHO revealed there are 12 Dengue hotspots in the city: Barangays 19-B, 76-A, Matina Crossing, Catalunan Grande, and Talomo Proper in the First Congressional District; Barangays Cabantian, Buhangin Proper, Wilfredo Aquino, and Lapu-lapu in the Second Congressional District; and Barangays Marilog, Calinan, and Toril in the Third Congressional District.
Based on data from DOH, there were already six deaths recorded in the city from January to July this year. Moreover, Davao City has the highest number of cases in the region with 1,630.
According to the DOH website, Dengue virus is transmitted by day by biting Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. It is the fastest spreading vector-borne disease – an infection transmitted by the bite of infected arthropod species like mosquitoes – in the world that’s endemic in 100 countries.(davaotoday.com)
