By Paulo Loreto Lim

The Iloilo City Health Office (CHO), in coordination with the Liga ng mga Barangay (Liga), has been distributing larvicides to city barangays every three to four months in an effort to combat dengue.
In terms of the districts with the highest number of recorded dengue cases, including City Proper, Molo, Mandurriao, and La Paz, assistant Iloilo CHO officer, Dr. Mae Delmo, said, “They need additional larvicide to help eliminate more mosquitoes in their area.”
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), larvicide treatments reduce the number of adult mosquitos in a certain area by targeting larvae before they mature.
Earlier this month, the CHO reported, between January and August 30 of this year, there were a total 197 dengue cases recorded in Iloilo City, a drop from 968 during the same period last year, or a decrease of 80 percent.
“We can attribute the decrease of dengue cases [to] active participation and involvement of the barangays,” said CHO head, Dr. Bernard Caspe./WDJ