Thursday, June 26, 2008 New tactic vs dengue bared
THE Department of Health (DOH) launched a new strategy to combat the dreaded dengue fever disease, saying raising public awareness is not enough.
The Communication for Behavioral Impact (Combi), which seeks to move communities into action, has become the health department's new battle cry in its effort to eliminate or reduce the number of persons affected by the disease.
Barangay Puguis in the town of La Trinidad was chosen as the pilot area for the program.
Health Regional Director Myrna Cabotaje said the Combi for dengue program will not only focus on raising the awareness of the people on dengue, but also to move the community to act to get rid of the disease.
Puguis is one of the largest barangays in La Trinidad, and has been recorded as one of the areas where dengue outbreaks occurred in past years. The village has a population of more than 5,300.
The recent dengue case recorded in the village was the death of a seven-year-old child, who was not able to survive due to late consultation.
Cabotaje said there is now a need to push the community to move as the trend of the disease has been increasing.
"We need to go beyond awareness. We have to instill a behavior change among the people. It's no longer enough we only raise the level of awareness, we need action from the community," she said.
The DOH is stressing on "search and destroy" the breeding ground of mosquitoes strategy to prevent the disease. Seeking early consultation once symptoms occur is also one of the measures to combat dengue.
Although dengue cases went down by 42 percent last year compared to 2006, the DOH reported cases have increased for the first five months of this year.
In 2007, there were 1,146 dengue cases reported in the region, with two reported deaths.
Health officials said dengue cases are high in urban areas and are rising in thickly populated rural areas.
Dr. Lyndon Lee-Suy of the DOH central office said dengue, which has been considered as among the top priorities of the health department, is now a global concern.
He said the Asian Development Bank is investing on dengue programs, as a consequence of the concerns of developed countries to the disease.
