HEALTH officials noted a slight decrease in the number of dengue cases since the state of calamity was declared in Cebu City. But three more deaths have been recorded this month.
Amid the seeming lukewarm response to the campaign against dengue, Mayor Tomas Osmeña is willing to increase funding for emergency response to dengue cases.
With three deaths recorded in just two weeks, the mayor said City Hall may appropriate additional funds for the early detection of dengue to avoid more deaths.
The Cebu City Health Department and the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) have already been asked to submit requests for medicines and supplies for the free blood screening for suspected dengue patients.
From Jan. 1 to Nov. 3 this year, 1,566 dengue cases have been recorded in the city, with 34 deaths so far. The number is 110.2 percent higher compared to the same period last year.
Prevention
Seeing that dengue prevention activities have failed, the mayor earlier shifted the focus of the campaign from prevention to early detection of the symptoms of dengue.
“We feel it takes too long to try to teach the whole universe how to keep their surroundings clean. So now we’re giving free tests and treatment because if there’s early detection, there will be no fatality,” Osmeña said.
A total of P5 million was appropriated last Sept. 29 to be used in the emergency response immediately after a state of calamity was declared in the entire city.
Assistant City Epidemiologist Durinda Macasocol said yesterday that the declaration of a calamity helped in containing the number of dengue cases and deaths, as shown by the number they have recorded so far.
Because of the release of the calamity funds, equipment and personnel were mobilized during information drive activities and massive cleanup in the barangays, she said.
“Numerically, the number of cases will not decrease because we have existing cases in the records and they keep adding up. But based on the trend, we expected a lot of cases for November, which is the peak month, and we only have less than 50 cases so far,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
In the last five years, an average of 300 cases have been recorded in November every year. (LCR)
