ILOILO CITY – – Boracay Island – composed of villages of Balabag, Manoc-manoc and Yapak in Malay, Aklan – is at high risk of dengue vectors, an official of the Department of Health in Western Visayas (DOH-6) said Monday.
This was the result of the survey held last July 9-13, 2018 by the joint teams of the DOH’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), DOH-6 and Provincial Health Office of Malay, Aklan, Assistant Regional Director Ma. Julia Z. Villanueva of DOH-6 said in an interview.
“There are so many breeding sites of mosquitoes found, particularly dengue-carrying Aedis Aegypti mosquitoes,” she said.
The breeding sites, she said, are spawned mainly by dirty surroundings and absence of proper waste disposals.
“These are mostly found inside and outside the households like in the drums, bottles, jars, vase, coco shells and other water-holding containers,” she said.
The survey covered 100 households in each of the three barangays.
Villanueva said Balabag has the highest number of households with breeding sites, with 36 households out of 100.
The village of Manoc-manoc followed with 34 households out of 100 and Yapak with 29 out of 100 households.
Due to the findings, Villanueva said they have recommended to the officials of the three villages to reactivate their respective Aksyon Barangay Kontra Dengue (ABKD) or Dengue Task Force.
“Cleaning of surroundings should be a number one priority and number responsibility of the barangay officials, as well as the households or the community,” she said.
She added that they also encouraged residents to practice the “4S”, which stands for Search and destroy mosquito breeding places; use Self-protection measures; Seek early consultation for fever; and Say “yes” to fogging when there is an outbreak.
Earlier reports showed that from January 1 until August 4, dengue cases on the island reached 29, higher by 20 percent compared to the 24 cases recorded in the same period of last year.
In a previous interview with Rowen Aguirre, Executive Assistant for Boracay Affairs, he said they will coordinate with their provincial health office to tackle initiatives how they could prevent the spread of dengue-carrying mosquitoes on the island.
Aguirre recognized the sentiments of some residents that stagnant water brought by the ongoing road improvements on the island may have contributed to the problem.
“But hopefully, if we are done with the major constructions, we will continue cleaning the island even the backyard, unoccupied spaces and other areas where the mosquitoes could possibly breed,” he said,
“We might see that the risk of dengue will be decreased,” he added. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
