VILLAGE chiefs will attend a one-day seminar on dengue prevention, control, and monitoring to strengthen efforts against dengue in Cagayan de Oro City.
Mayor Sara Duterte said the seminar is under her orders and will be facilitated by the City Health Office (CHO) under Dr. Josephine Villafuerte on July 14.
"I instructed the (CHO) nga ipatawag ang tanang mga barangay captain nato kay para malecturan ug usab ang atong mga barangay bahin ani (I instructed the CHO to call all barangay captains so the barangays are lectured again about dengue)," Duterte said.
"I expect sa pagbalik nila sa ilang mga barangay kinanglan ila nang iimplement and anti-dengue program (I expect that when they go back to their barangays they will implement the anti-dengue program)," Duterte said.
Meanwhile, Duterte also headed a bloodletting activity as an effort to combat complications suffered by dengue victims.
The mayor called on blood donors to donate as the rise in dengue cases means a rise in the demand for blood.
"Kung naay mga emergency maayo nang naa gyud tay pirmi supply para masalbar ang kinabuhi (If there are emergencies it's best that we have blood supply on hand so we can save lives)," Duterte said.
The activity stemmed from GMA Network's discovery that many residents in Barangay Gumitan, Marilog were positive from malaria and even caused the death of one school teacher. Severe malaria anemia is commonly treated using blood transfusion, and so with dengue.
GMA Network program manager Darios Relatado commended the fast action of the local government after their news shows, Una Ka Bai and Testigo, aired the concern in Barangay Gumitan.
"Nakit-an nato kung unsa ka powerful ang media sa pag-engage sa atong government sa mga issues. Pasalamat pud ta sa paspas kaayo nga reaction sa atong lokal nga gobyerno nga after namo to napagawas niadto pud si mayor dayon (We saw how powerful the media was in engaging the government in issues. We are also thankful to our local government for their fast action that after we aired those problems City Mayor Sara Duterte flew over to the area)," Relatado said.
Relatado said that communication with people in Gumitan is very difficult because of sheer distance and lack of roads.
"Six to eight hours kung imo silang sakaon, grabe kalisod para sa mga residente so pasalamat ta nga karon at least na-address na to ang problema sa malaria didto (It takes six to eight hours to go to their area, the people there were having a lot of difficulty so now we are thankful that at least their problems have been addressed)," he said.
The blood letting efforts were made possible by the GMA Network, the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), and the City Vice Mayor's Office under Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
"Atong target is makakuha ug 300 to 500 packs of blood (Our target is to gather 300 to 500 packs of blood through this activity)" Relatado said. (Jade C. Zaldivar)