DOH not keen on declaring national calamity over dengue

The Department of Health (DOH) is not keen on declaring a national state of calamity due to the killer disease dengue, at least for now. DOH program manager for dengue, Lyndon Lee Suy, said on Monday the number of dengue cases in the country has already started to go down. “Ang pagdeklara ng national calamity iba yan ... Kung mataas ang bilang ng kaso sa isang region maaring iba ang pakita sa ibang rehiyon," Lee Suy said in an interview on dzBB radio. (Declaring a national calamity may not be practical. Dengue cases may be on the rise in one region but on the decline in another.) He said in Metro Manila, trends in the last five years indicate a decline in the number of dengue cases around this time of year. However, in other areas, the number of cases has not yet gone down, he said. Last weekend, Malacañang said it will wait for the DOH’s recommendation before declaring a national state of calamity over the dengue scourge. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said health authorities are still studying why dengue incidents had risen in some areas and have declined in others. “We will take the advisory from the Secretary of Health. Last week nilabas natin sila, dengue alert consciousness lang. We will discuss that with Secretary of Health, sila ang in the best position to do so and monitor the incidents," Lacierda said on government-run dzRB radio on Saturday. (We will take the advisory from Health Secretary Enrique Ona. Last week, they only called for dengue alert consciousness but we will discuss this with Ona. They are in the best position to make a proper recommendation and monitor the incidents of dengue.) Ona earlier called for a heightened alertness against symptoms of dengue and encouraged the public to take proper precautions. “We will be relying on their report to us ... Wala pang abiso na gawin national state of calamity (We will rely on their report to us. So far we have not received any advice to declare a national state of calamity)," Lacierda said. The dengue count has gone up cases in several provinces. In Cebu, Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal ordered an oratio imperata (mandatory prayer) against dengue in Sunday masses. –VVP, GMANews.TV