Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Editorial: Dengue prevention is good housekeeping
IT'S expected, what with all the rains that we have been having. But the admission made by the Department of Health-Southern Mindanao that there is indeed a rise in dengue cases and that they expect the numbers to rise yet, should all put us on alert.
All of us have had a family member, friend, acquaintance, neighbor, or colleague who has had a brush with death brought about by dengue. All of us too have often been told how dengue can be prevented. And yet, the surge continues as we leave stagnant water, empty bottles and used tires, and all other trash that can gather water and entice mosquitoes.
It's just the start of the rainy season, and yet there is already a six percent increase. How much worse can it get?
It can get even worse, if we continue living, as we do with decadence, safe in the belief that tragedies are reserved for those on television, not us. That is until yet another neighbor, or even member of the family is struck down and you are in a panic, crying for help and urgent supply of blood.
This early, let us remember that the spread of dengue can be prevented; it's all about a lifestyle of cleanliness in our surroundings. A lifestyle that frowns on all those dark, muggy places that is typical of any densely populated community in our city, a lifestyle that demands communities to clean their backyards and front yards, and the canals along their streets; to be on the constant lookout for possible breeding grounds of mosquitoes and to make it a habit to turn over pails, used tires, bottles, and every item that can accommodate water, replace water in flower vases and sweep out all those mulch gathering behind flower pots, and a lot of other small actions that all spell good housekeeping.
But for as long as we tolerate the stench of "pusali," as has become the familiar stench of neighborhoods hereabouts, then we will never be safe from the scourge of dengue because along with that tolerance for the stench is tolerance for damp spots and unkempt surroundings.
