Iloilo City ups game plan vs dengue

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Iloilo City government is ramping up its dengue prevention measures in response to the rising number of cases this year, building on strategies implemented during the city’s dengue outbreak in 2019.

“We have a game plan. We will be procuring many misting machines,” said City Mayor Jerry Treñas during a press conference.

The mayor acknowledged that government hospitals are becoming overwhelmed as dengue cases continue to rise.

The province of Iloilo declared a state of calamity due to the dengue outbreak on August 21, with Iloilo City following suit on August 28.

“The dengue cases in the city initially appeared to be within normal levels, but then they suddenly increased,” Treñas said.

Following the city’s declaration of a state of calamity, the mayor emphasized the importance of equipping all barangays and schools with their own misting and fogging machines, enabling them to conduct anti-dengue operations independently.

He also mentioned plans to request village officials to oversee anti-dengue procedures in churches, considering the high number of individuals using these facilities.

“We have fogging machines and misting equipment, but what I want now is to purchase misting machines for all barangays and schools so they can handle it themselves. We will just educate them on how to use it,” Treñas added.

The mayor pointed out that fogging operations will be concentrated in areas with a clustering of cases, defined as three or more cases reported for four consecutive weeks.

The City Health Office plans to target anti-dengue misting operations in two barangays each day.

The city’s dengue response has been allocated a budget of ₱7.04 million. This funding includes ₱4.75 million for Deltamethrin (Deltahor), ₱900,000 for Moztak granules, ₱390,000 for a motorized sprayer, and ₱1 million for dengue duo test kits and other medical supplies for the hydration unit.