By Perla Lena/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — Barangays are now mandated to establish dengue task forces following the passage of an ordinance calling for its creation down to villages during Tuesday’s regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) in this city.
Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas, author of the ordinance, in a previous interview, said the creation of task forces is significant because the City Health Office (CHO) could not do it alone considering their local government unit has 180 barangays.
During the hearing of the committee on health she chaired, the CHO revealed that most of the dengue cases originated from households with unclean surroundings.
“Hence the committee noted down the importance of educating the people of the necessary precautions to avoid dengue outbreaks as much as the daily cleanup in the community,” she said in her report.
The CHO will be training the members of the task force since every barangay has a budget for dengue control.
Tupas said the city government already has a resolution for the conduct of the weekly cleanup. They can also conduct the 4 o’ clock habit.
The task force will be composed of the barangay captain as chairperson, kagawad (councilman) who sits as chair of the committee on health as co-chair and mothers, elderly residents and those who want to help as members.
The CHO has recorded 474 dengue cases with four deaths from January to April this year, higher compared with the 93 cases recorded in the same period last year.
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