EDITORIAL - How the fight against dengue can be won

Dengue has once again reared its ugly head, killing at least 25 people in Central Visayas. Ooops, let that statement be corrected. It is wrong to say dengue has once again reared its ugly head because it has never stopped threatening people's lives. Its head has always been reared, ready to strike when the opportunity arises.

The correct statement would be - dengue is in the news again, with responsibility for killing 25 more people, as usual mostly children. Dengue as a disease has never gone away. It has always been there, despite the seasonality of rain, which is associated with the breeding time of mosquitoes. Only the news about dengue goes away from time to time.

Sorry though it may be, but news thrives on the bad. And it is only when dengue deaths reach a certain "newsworthy" level that the news mills start grinding. But again, dengue is always there. It never goes away. It is one of the diseases that seems to be very pernicious and obstinate and cannot be eradicated, at least not just yet.

It is sad also that the authorities tasked to combat dengue appear to have developed the habit of going with the ebbs and flows of dengue's newsworthiness. Whenever the disease makes the news, that seems to also be the time for authorities to shake a leg. This is not to suggest the authorities are sleeping on the job. But neither can it be said that they are truly seizing the bull by the horns.

The fight against dengue ought to be relentless. There should be no let-up in whatever campaigns are available to fight it. The battle must go on regardless of whether it gets into the news or not. The problem is, when dengue reaches a particular level of newsworthiness, that is the time everybody wakes up. What it seems like is kicking an anthill - without the kick, the buzz of activity is normal.

But the buzz of activity ought never to be normal because there is nothing normal or ordinary about dengue. Dengue kills. Period. And so far there is no cure for dengue. Again, period. That reality alone should be the platform from which is launched an unrelenting assault on the disease, be it a cleanliness drive, an information campaign, a fogging operation. Whatever.

What is important is that the authorities make dengue a permanent item in the agenda. If they have been to a community today, they should go back tomorrow.

The authorities should understand the nature of the Filipino. Filipinos are good followers. But they need someone to follow. They need someone to lead. They need someone to tell them what to do. Always.