THE City Council of Bacolod urged the City Health Office (CHO) to intensify the information, communication and education campaign against hand, foot and mouth (HFMD) disease.
Councilor Em Ang authored the resolution passed Wednesday.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is an illness that causes sores in or on the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs and caused by a virus called an enterovirus.
Symptoms include tiredness, sore throat, or fever of around 38 degrees celsius to 39 degrees celsius of a child and then in a day or two, sores or blisters may appear in or on the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks.
CHO Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Morbidity week report showed that there is a steady increase of HFMD cases, with an increase of 161.3 percent from January 1 to July 22, 2017 compared to the same period last year.
Ang said there is a need to disseminate information and intensify campaign against HFMD before it will become an epidemic in the city.
Meanwhile, Ang also asked the City Legal Office Enforcement Unit to strictly implement City Ordinance 562, Series of 2011 otherwise known as "An Ordinance regulating the use, sale and provision of plastic bags as packaging material in Bacolod and prescribing penalties thereof."
Ang said it has been observed that despite the passage of the “Plastic Bags Regulation Ordinance,” there are still business establishments, fastfood outlets, market vendors, food kiosks, sari-sari stores, and ambulant vendors that do not comply with the provisions provided by the ordinance.
She said the plastic bags being non-biodegradable materials clog canals, creeks, rivers and other waterways, causing floods during the rainy season and causing harm to these waterways and the surrounding communities.
"There is a need to strictly implement and enforce the regulation of the use of plastic bags to prevent potential serious ecological imbalance like the garbage and flooding problems particularly in the city's creeks, rivers and other waterways that could endanger public health," Ang added.