LAOAG CITY – Ilocos Norte health officials have recommended the emergency purchase of dengue kits as public hospitals are running out of supply while the number of children being brought to the hospital due to dengue is on the rise.
Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos on Thursday afternoon said the provincial government will procure some dengue kits that be distributed to provincial government-run health facilities at the soonest possible time.
As of July, the Provincial Health Office has recorded 437 dengue cases with five deaths in the towns of Dingras, Solsona, Badoc, and Laoag.
According to Dr. Josephine Ruedas, PHO Officer-in-Charge, a box containing 25 dengue kits costs more than PHP25,000.
To ensure that the Commission on Audit (COA) allows the emergency purchase of dengue kits, Ruedas said they will attach a copy of the state of calamity declaration for Dingras as supporting document due to the noted rise in the number of dengue cases in the municipality.
“At the Dingras District Hospital, we have 45 dengue cases, so, we are still trying to assess how much will be purchased,” she said.
Apart from the conduct of a massive information drive and fumigation activities in several affected areas in the province to drive away dengue-carrying mosquitoes, local residents have been encouraged to conduct simultaneous clean-up drives in their respective houses and surroundings to get rid of breeding sites of mosquitoes. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
