Dengue Alert

ABOUT 17 of 757 dengue cases recorded from January to August 22 this year in Cebu City resulted in deaths, with an eight-year-old kid in barangay Camputhaw being the latest fatality.

According to the Cebu City Health Department, the numbers represent a 17 percent drop for the same period last year.

However, city officials considered it still alarming since anti-dengue programs were instituted to reduce the incidence of dengue in the barangays.

Among these measures are the free laboratory tests and hospitalization in the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for dengue patients and suspected dengue cases.

Opposition figures like congressional aspirant and businessman Jonathan Guardo will launch anti-dengue programs like Guard Against Dengue Spread (GUARDS), an information campaign on dengue in barangay Tisa this Saturday.

“We have to help each other against this menace. Dengue is the enemy. It's a private sector initiative. I know Mayor Osmeña is very concerned on dengue and I'd like to help him, in my own little way to fight its spread,” Guardo said.

He said the parents of the dengue victims in the said barangay have joined together and help him in his dengue campaign program.

“We will do a lot of information campaign because I think many of these deaths is due to ignorance..I think that the city's campaign still has its shortcomings. So much needs to be done,” Guardo explained.

While Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama said they appreciated Guardo's help, his statement that the city government neglected its constituents is misleading and politically colored. /Reporter Marian Z. Codilla