Mayor given go signal to enter into anti-dengue agreement with DOH

The city council passed resolution no. 255, series of 2023, authorizing Mayor Benjamin Magalong representing  the City Government of Baguio to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Health Center for Health Development-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH CHD CAR) relative to the city’s anti-dengue program and for the transfer and allocation of funds in the amount of P40,000,000 for the purpose.

Considered by the local legislature is the letter dated 24 April 2023 of the Mayor requesting for authority to enter into a MOA with the DOH CHD-CAR and for the transfer and allocation of the said funds  for the city’s anti-dengue program.

The approved measure claimed that dengue is the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the world that is endemic in 100 countries.

The DOH has launched the National Dengue Prevention and Control Program with the vision of “a dengue-free Philippines” and a goal of “reducing the burden of dengue disease”, it stated.

The resolution disclosed that the Summer Capital logged 2,954 dengue cases and 5 deaths in 2022 or a 121 percent increase of cases as compared to 2021.

Under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the year 2023, the National Government through the DOH allotted a total amount of P40,000,000 for Baguio’s Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases-Aedes Borne-Viral Disease Prevention and Control Program, it added.

The resolution stated that the MOA be submitted to the city council for confirmation. – Gaby B. Keith