By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/Philippine News Agency
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) is urging the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) to place the province under a state of calamity due to dengue.
IPHO chief Dr. Ric Noel Naciongayo said in an interview on Tuesday that they need funds to purchase medicines, intravenous fluids, intravenous tubing, and other resources to be provided to the hospitals for the dengue patients.
“Our resources in the hospitals are already draining because of the dengue cases,” he said.
Naciongayo said they would need at least PHP5 million from the calamity fund for the needed resources in hospitals.
The Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) recommended on July 11 the amendment of the province’s state of calamity due to the El Niño to already include dengue.
However, the SP referred the proposed amendment to the SP committee on laws chaired by lawyer Emmanuel Palacios Jr. for further study and review.
Meanwhile, Naciongayo advised the public to destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes to prevent the further rise of dengue cases.
“As of July 20, there are 1,110 cases of dengue with seven deaths in the province that had been monitored,” Naciongayo said.
The figure covers January 1 to July 20 period this 2019, which is 126 percent higher compared to only 494 cases in the same period last year.
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