Fighting the dreaded dengue — one small step at a time

MANILA, Philippines - Davao City is one of the Philippines’ major cities bustling with intense urban dynamism and socio-economic progress. However, it is still plagued by one menace that continues to be a major threat to the health and wellness of its residents — the dreaded dengue.

But hardworking officials of the Department of Health’s regional office in Davao thought of fighting this disease with creativity and efficiency, a small step to finally rid the city or the entire region itself of this disease that has claimed the lives of many — once and for all.

There were 23,615 reported dengue cases and 104 deaths in the country from January to March 30 this year, with the Davao region at third with 2,249 cases.

Since the fight would require massive manpower and financial muscle, the CHD-Davao region, with Dr. Abdullah Dumama Jr., DOH-CHD Region 11 director, engineer Antonietta Ebol, regional dengue coordinator, and other officials, in cooperation with the City Health Office of Davao City, joined hands to come up with a creative battle plan.

A simple challenge, a first in Phl

Under the Integrated Vector Management Project, barangay health workers (BHWs) were asked to put to good use two anti-dengue methods: the OL trap or ovicidal-larvicidal trap, made of a simple tin can, wooden board and an all-natural mosquito attractant solution, and the long lasting insecticidal net or LLIN.

However, it was in using the LLIN that the BHWs were challenged to come up with creative ways to help install them, either as net screen or curtain, in houses.

Ebol said they oriented BHWs from 22 barangays in Davao City in August last year. “We identified six dengue hotspot districts based on our surveillance and chose five barangays per district to bring the total to 30, and most were indigents. However, only 22 barangays actually participated,” she said.

It was the first time in the country that anti-dengue efforts in the barangay level was awarded, with Davao City the first in the Philippines to implement such a project. Special awards were given to the most creative installation of the LLIN, but overall, the objective was to see if using the LLIN would prove effective to bring down the number of dengue cases in the chosen areas in six months. And Ebol was delighted to report the initial results.

“The project’s biggest impact was that among the barangays which were given the Olyset nets (LLIN), almost no case was reported after six months,” she said. “But the biggest factor for the success of the challenge was the wholehearted participation of the barangay residents, and of course, the untiring efforts of the BHWs in educating the residents on how to use the two anti-dengue methods. The BHWs were the key to the success of the challenge because they are the real heroes here.”

The Olyset net used in the campaign is a highly durable and long-lasting mosquito net that contains “permethrin,” an insecticide that is safe to use in human applications, with extra-strong netting that uses a “slow release” insecticide technology, where the permethrin is embedded onto the net’s fibers to produce a long-lasting net guaranteed to be effective for at least five years with proper washing.

The best of the best

During the Integrated Vector Management Project culminating program held recently, more than 400 BHWs and officials from the participating barangays converged in Davao City for the awarding, with DOH regional health officers present, led by DOH-CHD Davao region assistant regional director, Dr. Maria Socorro Degracia, Davao City health officer Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, and other DOH officials.

A festive mood prevailed as everyone waited to find out who won. Based on criteria that included compliance in using the LLIN either as a curtain or net screen, proper care/usage, initiative and attitude, 12 special awards were given to select BHWs while the top 5 were awarded with cash and other special prizes.

In the end, it was Monica Villanueva of Sitio Culosa, Barangay Lizada, Toril district who won the grand prize, with runners-up Marcelina Lara of NHA Relocation, Barangay Talomo; Viviana Torrejas of Barangay Lasang Proper; Patricia Alcoseba of Barangay Paciano Bangoy; and Razel Caparida of Barangay Maa.

Widespread implementation

Given the project’s initial success, Ebol hopes to expand the project to all of Davao City’s 182 barangays, as it will be a source of pride for BHWs if implemented on a wider scale. However, she lamented that cost plays a factor.

Although the Olyset may be perceived to be expensive, Ebol said that with the product’s proven effectiveness, it would still be more cost-effective in the long run since it is guaranteed to perform effectively for five years and is strong and durable.

“It still has many ‘health economic’ benefits compared to using traditional and more costly anti-dengue treatment methods. But I believe that, if only a private-public initiative can be put into place, full implementation is possible and would definitely help meet the government’s objective to eliminate or at least control dengue to a minimum,” she said.

Laudable efforts

Seeing the efforts of the BHWs, Dumama lauded their hard work to make the project a success. He said the initiative was a solid display of the partnership between the DOH and the BHWs because, given the magnitude of the project, the DOH cannot do it alone.

“The beauty of this effort was that the strength, commitment, and determination were the BHWs’ primary weapons in their goal to fight dengue. For us, it’s the assistance, resources, training and support. Combining all of these, I cannot see us failing in our objective to eliminate dengue in Davao City,” Dumama said.

He added that the partnership made them stand up as one voice, one action. This may be a small step but it’s a small step forward, he said, expressing hope that the project’s results may serve as inspiration and motivation to others to help improve the health situation, especially in dengue control, in their areas.

“Anti-dengue efforts should not be done only in June but every day. Let’s not wait for our loved ones, more importantly ourselves, to become victims of dengue. We hope that everybody will join in the fight against this dreaded disease and I believe we can do — even at one small step at a time,” Dumama said.