Tolentino urges community-based approach to keep Zika out of PH
Disaster preparedness advocate Francis Tolentino called for an intensified and community-based campaign to help keep the Zika virus out of the country.
“Even as the national government and our health authorities are acting to insulate the country from the Zika virus, our local governments can activate barangay leaders, barangay health workers and other community volunteers to conduct their own clean-up drives in their respective areas, to get rid of possible mosquito breeding sites,” Tolentino, an independent senatorial candidate said.
The former president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, Tolentino urged local government units (LGUs) to pass ordinances to strictly observe cleanliness in particular and to mobilize community volunteers and barangay workers to conduct a house-to-house cleanliness campaign.
Like dengue and chikungunya, Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes.
He recalled that he contracted chikungunya while doing rescue and recovery work in Tacloban right after Yolanda.
“I didn’t know I had chikungunya until after three ( 3) days. I thought it was just ordinary fever caused by fatigue because we were working continuously. It was only when I can barely move my lower extremities that I con-
sulted a doctor,” Tolentino shared.
OL traps Tolentino asked the national government to fund the nationwide distribution of ovicidal larvicidal (OL) mosquito traps, starting in public schools and urged private schools to make similar provisions.
Tolentino also asked the Department of Health to provide technical assistance and information materials, conduct training and orientation to all barangay health centers and rural health clinics in the country to prepare them to handle Zika cases.
Currently, there is no vaccine against Zika. The only way to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the virus.
The Zika virus that began in Uganda has spread rapidly in Latin America, and cases have been recently reported in Thailand and Australia. Asian governments including the Philippines have issued advisories in a bid to contain the mosquito-borne disease, which could be linked to birth defects and cause temporary paralysis.
“Our communities can help keep out the Zika virus and complement the national government’s efforts by not allowing mosquitoes to breed on our surroundings. Let us make our surroundings clean and free of stagnant waters that are the favorite breeding sites of mosquitoes,” Tolentino added.