BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) ordered all government hospitals in the different parts of the region to establish their respective dengue fast lanes to provide the necessary services to dengue victims seeking medical attention, especially for emergency cases.
“We continue to closely monitor the reported increase in dengue fever cases during the rainy season that is why it is best for our hospitals to establish their respective dengue fast lanes to provide appropriate medical attention for patients,” Marrero stressed.
Earlier, Baguio City and Benguet were declared as dengue hot spots following three-fold and four-fold increases, respectively, in the number of dengue fever cases, as well as clustering of cases reported in several of their barangays.
Marrero commended the concerned local governments for issuing the appropriate directives for barangays and residents to intensify the search-and-destroy efforts in order to destroy the breeding grounds of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
He said the agency continues its massive regional campaign on the need to eliminate breeding sites of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes and prevent the increase in the number of dengue cases, and it also convenes advocacy meetings with barangay officials.
According to him, there must be a consolidated effort among barangay officials and residents to curb the continuous increase in dengue fever cases regionwide, thus, the need to sustain regular massive clean-up activities to destroy mosquito breeding grounds.
Among the activities of DOH-CAR are monitoring and evaluation, surveillance and information system for continuous updating and analysis of data and planning and meeting with health authorities, plus the provisions of logistics like larvicides, adulticides, misting and fogging, fluids for hospitals, dengue test kits and insecticide-treated curtains, apart from lending of vector control equipment like ULV machines and fogging machines to local government units, as well as coordinated conduct of space spraying in various localities.
He, however, admitted the health regional office still needs assistance from its central office on outbreak response, space spraying, vector control equipment and supplies; diagnostic kits; IEC materials or radio and television advertisements and technical expertise on outbreak investigation, disease and vector surveillance.
By HENT