South Cotabato municipality declares state of calamtiy over dengue outbreak

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines  --- The local government of nearby Tupi town in South Cotabato on Wednesday declared the municipality under state of calamity following a sudden rise in dengue cases among local residents in recent months.

Jenny Ventura, information officer of the Department of Health for Region 12, told The Star Friday that health workers in Tupi have recorded 255 dengue cases from January to June 2013 alone.

“That’s more than the recorded Dengue cases in the same municipality during the 12 months of 2012,” said Ventura, who is based at the DOH regional office here.

Ventura said government physicians, led by the chief of South Cotabato’s Integrated Provincial Health Office, Rogelio Aturdido, are now deployed in Tupi, attending to the needs of the local communities and disseminating information on how to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease.

“The purpose of the municipality’s having been declared under state of calamity is to hasten the release of funds needed for the prevention of dengue infections and for health advocacies essential to curbing the spread of this disease in the area,” Ventura said.

In Kidapawan City, health authorities also recorded an increase in dengue cases in recent weeks.

Kidapawan City is also under the jurisdiction of DOH-12.

A dengue-infected child in Barangay Sudapen in Kidapawan City succumbed at a hospital last June 7, according to local health officials.

Physician Duvia Tabugo, North Cotabato’s provincial health chief, said about half of the latest dengue patients in Kidapawan City and surrounding North Cotabato towns were children.

Kidapawan City has the highest number of dengue cases in the previous six months in the North Cotabato area.

Seven North Cotabato towns also had high dengue prevalence during the January to March 2013 period --- Mlang with 241 cases; Kabacan with 174 cases; Midsayap with 171 cases; Alamada with 80 cases; Matalam with 72 cases; and Carmen and Makilala with 66 cases each.

The DOH-12 has listed a total of 3,518 dengue cases in the entire Central Mindanao from January to May 31 this year.

The official website of DOH-12 said 23 people have died of dengue during the period, seven of them residents of North Cotabato.  - John Unson