The Negros Occidental provincial government no longer needs to declare a state of calamity as it has enough funds for its campaign to address the high cases of the dengue mosquito-borne disease.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the Provincial health Office (PHO) still has PHP3 million available funds for anti-dengue activities as of July 18.

“There’s no need to declare a state of calamity. There’s still a budget, in the regular budget of the PHO, specifically for dengue,” he said.

Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said on Tuesday the PHO will focus its information campaign on the 10 local government units (LGUs) with the highest number of dengue cases.

“We often stress to the local chief executives to strengthen their ‘4S’ strategy since these are the preventive measures,” he told reporters.

“4S” means “search and destroy,” “self-protection measures,” “seeking early consultation,” and “support fogging/spraying”.

Tumimbang, however, said there must be guidelines when doing a fogging activity.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), fogging is conducted “only in hotspot areas where increase in cases is registered for two consecutive weeks to prevent an impending outbreak”.

DOH records showed that Negros Occidental now has the highest number of dengue cases in Western Visayas, with a total of 1,869 cases, including 10 deaths, from January 1 to July 2 this year.

The figure is 777 percent higher compared to some 213 cases recorded during the same period in 2021.

Based on the data from the PHO, the LGUs with the most number of cases include Himamaylan City, Kabankalan City, La Carlota City, Hinigaran, San Carlos City, Bago City, Binalbagan, Pontevedra, Cadiz City and Cauayan.

On July 15, the DOH-Western Visayas launched the “SaBAYANg 4,5,6” campaign in La Carlota City to push for the adoption of the 4S strategy led by five teams in the LGUs and barangays across Region 6 (Western Visayas). (PNA)