DepEd, Malacañang renew appeal on preventive measures vs dengue 

As the Department of Education sounded out its “Brigada Eskwela” call for community involvement in schools to focus on sanitation and hygiene, Malacañang reminded families of the efficacy of cleanliness against dengue-carrying mosquitoes.   “Hindi lang pag tag-ulan nagiging delikado tayo sa dengue, kahit tag-init kailangan tuloy-tuloy ang pagprepara at siguraduhing di tayo, ang kapaligiran di pagbabahayan ng dengue carrying mosquitoes ... Dapat tuloy (ang paghahanda) all year round,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said on government-run dzRB radio.   “Meron pa tayong tatlo at kalahating linggo para siguraduhing malinis ang ating paaralan para sa pagbalik ng estudyante sa iskwelahan,” Valte added.   “Our thrust in this year’s Brigada Eskwela is on school sanitation because it is also where personal hygiene is reinforced among our students which can, in turn, help develop their self-esteem,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in a DepEd statement issued over the weekend.   “This year’s Brigada is slated from May 21 to 26. The annual school maintenance program enjoins education stakeholders to contribute their time, effort and resources for the repair work. The goal is to ensure that the public schools are ready to receive students when school opens,” the DepEd said.   Valte assured that the Department of Health is coordinating with local health units of areas affected by dengue to prevent the spread of the disease.   Earlier reports indicated that the Zamboanga City government had declared a dengue outbreak as the number of dengue cases from January 1 up to the first week of May increased by 413, or more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year.   “Nakikipagtulungan ang DOH sa local health unit diyan para maapula ang pagkalat ng sinasabi nilang dengue outbreak,” Valte pointed out. Bracing for dengue   “For 2012, it has been so far so good. From January 1 to March 24, 2012, a total of 15,536 dengue cases have been reported and this is even 30.10% lower compared to the same time period last year (22,227). But of course, we can never be complacent,” Health Secretary Enrique Ona said in a dengue summit last April 13.   He said that “with the onset of the rainy season, we are anticipating the increasing numbers of dengue cases.”   “If we do nothing, we will be again over our heads come July and August when our public hospitals are being filled to the brim with dengue patients and Dengue outbreaks are being reported left and right. We do not want that to happen this year,” Ona stressed. He recalled that in 2010 the country had its worst outbreak of dengue in the country in 10 years. "More than 173,000 cases were recorded exceeding the record high infection rates we had in 1998 when other countries in the Southeast Asian region also reported major dengue outbreaks," the DOH chief noted.   "Around 126,000 dengue cases were reported from January to December 2011 which is 27% lower than the number of cases reported in 2010. Of course, we observed the usual peak during the months of July, August, and September which undoubtedly placed our dengue control efforts under the public microscope," Ona said.  — ELR, GMA News