CLEAN surroundings remain the best defense against mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said yesterday.
“Even before (our cleanup drive), communities should play safe and they should clean their area,” Davide said two days after the Provincial Board placed the province under calamity status due to the dengue outbreak.
The province-wide cleanup will be held on the first week of November. Davide said the provincial government is not keen on conducting a province-wide misting operation to deal with the dengue outbreak.
He said he hasn’t receive yet an official recommendation but the Provincial Health Office (PHO) is not recommending against the misting operation.
“I just spoke with Dr. Rene Catan (PHO chief) last Monday, he told me that they are not even recommending misting. It’s better to use larvicide. But we are also looking at that,” Davide said.
He said they will focus on their cleanup drive as the best solution to prevent the rising of dengue cases. The PHO said cleanup is the best solution followed by placing larvicidal on stagnant water.
Davide said he ordered the creation of a task force that will spearhead the campaign against dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
The governor said he will remind mayors about next month’s cleanup campaign in today’s Provincial Development Council meeting.