CEBU CITY – About 50 civic organizations joined hands in the anti-dengue drive in Metro Cebu Sunday, with some 2,000 volunteers putting the larvicidal powder “Abate” in swamps and stagnant water to prevent the spread of dengue that claimed 102 lives in Cebu last year, a government press release said.

Dr. Wyben Briones of the Cebu Medical Society and past president of the Rotary Club of Metro Cebu said it should be called the project of all of those who want to prevent dengue from hitting people, especially the poor.

Last year, Briones said, there were 50,000 reported dengue cases with 102 deaths in Central Visayas, but the anti-dengue campaign in October last year, an about 84 percent decrease was noted for this year.

Briones and the Rotary District 3860 and its members, among them the Rotary Club of Cebu, Rotary Club of Cebu East, Rotary Club of Mabolo and Rotary Club of Cebu Midtown, led the campaign last year using Abate after the Department of Health declared an outbreak in Cebu City’s Barangays Guadalupe, Tisa, Labangon, Mabolo and Mambaling, the press release said.

From January to August this year, Briones said, there were 700 cases, with 10 deaths, recorded in Cebu City.

The statistics is much lower compared to the other areas in the country, particularly in Metro Manila, which registered more than 10,000 dengue cases, while more than 3,000 cases were noted in Quezon City, the press release added.*

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