CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City has launched an all-out war against dengue, as cases of the mosquito-borne disease continue to rise.
Mayor Michael said in a press conference on June 24, 2022, that he will be issuing an Executive Order through his emissary, Lawyer Colin Rosell, for the citywide operations against dengue called War on Dengue.
“As Mayor, I will now have to take over. We do not have to wait when this will become an outbreak. We must now declare war against it. Preventive Medicine is key. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure,” said the mayor.
The mayor said that in the next few days, the Convergence will regroup to tackle the dengue spike.
“We all know the drill. Get rid of stagnant waters, misting in dark areas at home, use mosquito repellants and drink more than usual. Our Cebu City Medical Center is prepared to handle dengue cases, the same as our private and other public hospitals. Our C3 is on alert as well,” said Rama.
In the report of Dr. Mark Luen Remedio of the City Health Department (CHD), the cases of dengue peaked in May 2022 with 364 cases reported. A total of 1,245 cases have been recorded from January 1 to June 23, 2022.
The cases this year are still lower than in 2019 when the city recorded a total of 2,945 for the entire year. The highest number of cases the city has ever recorded was in 2016 when the dengue cases reached 4,602.
The majority of the affected individuals for this year’s dengue cases are aged between 1 to 10 years old with 580 followed by those aged 11 to 20 for a total of 420.
The CHD officials said they will focus on the top ten barangays where the number of cases and the incident rate are high.
Barangay Guadalupe leads with the most number of cases at 115. Barangays Lahug, Tisa, Labangon, Pardo, Inaayawa, Kamputhaw, Mambaling, Talamban, Punta Princessa and Quiot Pardo, are also on the top as seen in the chart below.
Top 10 barangays in Cebu City with the most number of dengue cases.
Rama said the EO will take on a bottoms-up approach involving the households and the barangays up to the hospitals.
Dengue fast lanes will be established in the hospitals especially at the Cebu City Medical Centers and each barangay health center will be equipped with dengue test kits, the mayor informed.
Rama said the city is determined to bring the number of dengue cases down to as low as they possibly can, and even zero if possible.
The mayor said once the EO has been released, it will strengthen the anti-dengue operations in the local communities allowing them to avail of misting services if necessary.
For now, the city officials are urging the public to cooperate and clean their homes from stagnant water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and spreading the disease.
The city government is also ready to provide free hospitalization for dengue patients through the CCMC. /rcg
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