By: Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Barangay officials of 25 villages in Sagay City, Negros Occidental vowed to help in the reduction of dengue cases in the city.
Their pledge of commitment was made during the city government’s launching of the “4-o’clock habit para deng-get out!” program initiated by the Department of Health (DOH) held at the city gymnasium last Wednesday.
In a report, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the “4-o’clock habit” is a strategy that seeks to raise awareness and encourage the community to do its share and take time to weed out dengue breeding sites at 4 p.m. every day.
Former Councilor Jose Frange, who spoke in behalf of Mayor Alfredo Marañon III, said the launching served as a reminder to every Sagaynons that there is an effort to fight dengue in the city.
“We have implemented preventive measures such as fogging and cleaning up our vicinity to clear breeding places of mosquitoes and other insects. I call everyone to help one another to make our city dengue free,” Frange said.
Meanwhile, Kaye Navarro, a representative from Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office, said the program was implemented to eliminate dengue in the communities, adding that dengue is an environmental problem aside from treating it as a health problem.
“Through the implementation of ‘Sabayang 4 o’clock Habit’ we are able to search and destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes,” she said.
She urged the stakeholders to teach the people to also help them in preventing dengue by cleaning the environment.
For his part, Barangay Lopez Jaena Captain Eddie Lobaton said that, “based on their experience, massive education campaign in different areas in his village is an effective campaign against dengue.”
He urged other barangay captains to involve themselves in cleaning up their vicinities as it will largely prevent the increase of dengue cases.
“Let us extend an extra mile out of our concern to fight against dengue. We need to increase awareness among our people to lower the incidence,” he said.
The event was attended by representatives of all barangays, with city officials, and non-government organizations, in response to the DOH’s recent declaration of national dengue epidemic in the country.
The event was highlighted by a city-wide caravan that brought messages on how to prevent dengue and how to search and destroy mosquito breeding sites in the city.
