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Lawmaker seeks probe on anti-dengue program

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Parents care for their children who are afflicted with either dengue or leptospirosis at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on Aug. 27, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/08/01/20190827-dengue-lepto-san-lazaro-jc-6653.jpg"/><figcaption>Parents care for their children who are afflicted with either dengue or leptospirosis at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on Aug. 27, 2019. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A lawmaker has called for an investigation into the national anti-dengue program following an &quot;alarming&quot; increase in cases of the mosquito-borne disease.</p><p>The country&#x27;s dengue cases have <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/28/22/philippines-dengue-cases-up-96-percent">nearly doubled</a> from 37,000 cases reported during the same period last year, the Department of Health said last week. </p><p>&quot;This is really alarming. The fact that we are having or seeing 90 plus percent increase from last year, it means to say the current programs or activities and the strategies being undertaken by the Department of Health seems to fall short,&quot; Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo told ANC on Monday.</p><p>&quot;Perhaps, the focus has always been addressing COVID-19.&quot;</p><p>In House Resolution 79, Salo urged the House Committee on Health to review DOH&#x27;s program &quot;to immediately arrest the continuing increase in dengue cases&quot;.</p><p>Citing a study from the World of Health Organization, the lawmaker noted that children suffer the most from the disease.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/16/22/antique-inilagay-sa-state-of-calamity-dahil-sa-dengue">Antique inilagay sa state of calamity dahil sa dengue</a></li></ul><p>Last month, the province of Antique was placed under a state of calamity due to dengue.</p><p>If unabated, this trend may continue in other parts of the country, Salo added.</p><p>In his resolution, the lawmaker also called on the new administration to designate a dengue czar.</p><p>&quot;Definitely, it will be a good idea if we are going to have a dengue czar who will just focus on this particular issue to make sure that the strategies of the Philippine government will be taken into full consideration,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Philippines has so far tallied 73,909 dengue cases this year, latest data from DOH showed. Majority of the cases were from Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Metro Manila.</p><p>Some 299 dengue-related deaths have been reported this year.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2151285" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

A lawmaker has called for an investigation into the national anti-dengue program amid an 'alarming' increase in cases of the mosquito-borne disease.