Editorial: Surge in dengue fever cases

AT LEAST officials of the national government and local government units are again being forced to note the basic services that need to be prioritized in their jurisdictions. That is, if they are really in pursuit of good governance.

In Cebu City, for example, the often neglected Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) had 52 patients with confirmed dengue fever admitted in one day, Saturday. Dengue cases have also flooded other government hospitals throughout the country.

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As a result, concerned government officials are scrambling to find ways to effectively deal with the problem, including appropriating additional funds for the purpose. Which looks more like a band-aid solution than anything else.

The surge in admission exposed once more the sorry state of many government hospitals and related facilities. It also showed where Malacañang and local government officials should focus on in the coming years.

In the proposed P1.645-trillion “reform” budget of the national government in 2011, the Department of Health will get P33.3 billion, higher than that of the Department of Agrarian Reform but much lower than that of the Department of Education.

There’s no question about the need for the administration of President Noynoy Aquino to focus on other important services like education, but health should not be left too far behind in budgetary consideration.

In Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama seems determined to veer away from the approach of his predecessor as far as the CCMC is concerned, although it is still too early to say if he will go all-out on the matter of funding the upgrading of the facility.

But the problem on the rise in the number of patients admitted in the CCMC for dengue fever should open the eyes of Rama and other city officials to the need for an all-encompassing health program for the city.

As for the Provincial Government, to say that the services of district hospitals should be further improved is to be repetitive. It’s a call that has been made for a long time now and which Capitol, to be fair to it, is trying to address.

The dengue fever problem is a reminder for government policy makers to give health care the attention it deserves.