Iwas Dengue report from the City Agriculture Office

The Iwas Dengue Days Program of the City Government was launched about two weeks ago. The LGU offices were each given a barangay or area of assignment. The City Agriculture Office was among the few offices which provided the Office of the City Mayor their Iwas Dengue report.

On July 23, 2010, the 24 City Agriculture Office personnel met with the Barangay Officials headed by Brgy.Chairman Genaro Luaton. Also present in the said meeting were some 4P’s beneficiaries. After the meeting, sites inspection was done. The team found some problems which contributed to the increase of the population of mosquito.

An interview with Tinambacan Norte Brgy. Kagawad Rachel Lerio revealed that fifteen (15) dengue-cases were reported in the barangay from January to July 2010. The victims’ ages ranged from 5 to 9 years old. There was one (1) reported casualty - the five (5) year old granddaughter of Brgy. Kagawad Jaime Castante who died on May 2010. About a week ago, a son of a nurse in a local hospital was diagnosed to have been infected with dengue. It should be noted that as of this report, Tinambacan Norte ranked 3^rd among the barangays of Calbayog with the most dengue-related cases.

Here are some of the issues and concerns which the CA personnel identified:

1. A good number of open canals were clogged due to the trash (plastics, leaves, sand, etc) being thrown into it.
2. Most of the canals were allegedly “erroneously designed”, with some having floor elevation of the exit much higher than the entry point.
3. Some of the canals encroach private / fenced properties, which made the cleaning of clogged canals hard for the kamineros.
4. A of piggery owned by on Mr. Lentejas does not have septic tank.
5. Littering is a big issue that needed to be addressed. Despite the Barangay's Anti-Littering Ordinance, the populace continue to throw their trash anywhere.
6. It was learned that the collection of garbage was done only once a week (Wednesday), and that could be reason why some residents just throw their garbage in an open field or any area for that matter.

The City Agriculture Office personnel will be doing follow-ups on their findings in the forthcoming Iwas Dengue days activity.

(Photos courtesy of Ivy Petilla/CAO)