BAGUIO CITY – With the recent city ordinance no. 66 also known as the Anti-Dengue Ordinance of the city of Baguio which aims to continually reduce the occurrence of dengue cases in the city through integrated management and implementation of prevention and control measures, strengthening the fight against it, mayor Mauricio Domogan enumerated the functions of the newly created Baguio City Anti-Dengue Committee (BCADC).
Domogan will chair the said committee with city health officer Rowena Galpo as the action officer.
The members include sangguniang panlungsod committee on health and sanitation, ecology and environmental protection chair councilor Elaine Sembrano will sponsor/author or perform the necessary legislative action as recommended by the BCADC.
Association of Barangay Council (ABC) president councilor Michael Lawana will facilitate the conduct of massive public awareness campaigns at the 128 barangays which includes, but not limited to, the organization for health education lectures, manner of destroying breeding sites, participation in the “Oplan-Alis Kiti Kiti, Goodbye Dengue” activities as well as disseminate all information relative to the implementation of the ordinance at the barangays.
City building official will ensure that owners, managers, administrators, officers-in-charge of buildings that will undergo construction or even repair are informed of the ordinance, ensure that buildings under construction or repair must not accumulate stagnant water and solid wastes, and to inform them to maintain dry and clean surroundings at construction sites and provide proper drainage to prevent water stagnation.
To maintain dry and clean surroundings in canals, streets, and road repair sites and to provide proper drainage at road repair sites to prevent water stagnation will be responsibility of the city engineer.
The city environment and parks management officer will coordinate with the health services office in the conduct of public awareness campaigns such as health education lectures, manner of destroying breeding sites, among others as well as in the information dissemination relative to the implementation of the ordinance.
To ensure that garbage collection receptacles or containers within the city are covered so that rain water would not accumulate and become breeding grounds of mosquitoes will be the look out of the city general services officer.
The city legal officer will assist in the orientation of the deputized Barangay Anti-Dengue Brigade (BADB) and will also extend legal assistance to the BCADC and BADB, if necessary. While the city social welfare and development officer will disseminate information about the ordinance and the anti-dengue plans and programs of the city to the day care workers in the barangays and at the same time responsible for referrals to the hospitals if dengue cases are suspected.
Responsible for the issuance of citation tickets to all violators will be the Baguio City Police Office director and the public information office will circulate information through the quad-media all undertakings of the BCADC and BADB.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government Baguio field office will direct the barangays to eliminate possible mosquito breeding sites on a year-round basis and to monitor the health situation in their jurisdiction. They will mobilize community volunteers and barangay brigades for house-to-house cleanliness campaign and supervising and to ensure compliance of the duties and functions by all government offices concern, among others.
Among the duties of the Department of Health-CAR are to extend technical assistance through the conduct of training to all members of the BCADC; continue active surveillance, monitoring and follow-up of dengue fever patients; ensure that all hospitals in the city are prepared to handle dengue fever case as well as to ensure the availability and adequate supply of medications at all times; to implement effective control measures and to simulate the development, improvement and implementation of new strategies and interventions to improve understanding of dengue progression.
DOH-CAR will also design projects to help identify ways to better describe the impact of dengue infections, reduce intra-household spread dengue infections, and medical complications and case of fatality rates. They are in charge of encouraging collaborative activities with the different national agencies, among others.
It will be the responsibility of the Department of Education-CAR to refer to the school clinic, barangay officials, district health center medical officers, hospitals of HSO if any student, facility or staff shows any symptoms of dengue. They will strengthen dengue education program through school health teaching; conduct search, prevent and destroy possible breeding places of mosquitoes in school premises; to integrate proper education in the relevant subjects in the elementary and high school levels as well as implement other preventive actions that the DOH may provide.
The Public Information Agency will conduct information education communication to constituents of Baguio and at the same time facilitate the dissemination of the ordinance.
Moreover, representatives from the academe and accredited non-governmental organizations will be determined by the BCADC.
The BCADC will be seeking the assistance of the academe in the different activities like community or barangay mobilization, health education on dengue, mass anti-dengue campaign, promotion of the anti-dengue campaigns in the city, surveillance of dengue cases and other activities geared towards the prevention and complete eradication of dengue.
Also, the mayor will deputize the BADB composed of the punong barangay, barangay officials in charge of the barangay’s committee on health or environment, district health center medical officers covering the different barangays, barangay health workers and day care workers.
It will be the duty of the BADB to undertake and develop an effective dengue control plans and strategies; conduct search and destroy activities by mobilizing 100% of households in the community at the same time conduct community education; submit monthly report; implement the rules of ordinance no. 66; oversee the implementation of the synchronized community action and sustain the activities in the barangay; organize barangay clean up brigades, among others.
In the order, “it shall be unlawful to have, keep, maintain, cause or permit any collection of standing water or flowing waste water in which aedes mosquitoes may be propagated. The owner will be responsible for the elimination of dengue virus carrying mosquitoes and any uncooperative owner, public or private entity can be summoned to appear at the office of the punong barangay”.
DOH has reported that there were 70,697 dengue cases in the Philippines as of morbidity week 29 last year and most of the dengue cases were from regions IV-A, VII, XII and CAR ranks 9th among the 17 regions with the highest number of dengue cases. /Jho Arranz#
