MANILA, Aug 24 (NNN-PNA) – Philippine President, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, yesterday said, his country has been experiencing a surge in leptospirosis and dengue cases, due to “improper garbage disposal and poor waste management.”
“Local chief executives must work harder to utilise environmentally sound methods and waste minimisation measures, to protect public health and, of course, our environment,” Marcos said in a speech, at a local government summit.
Marcos said, problems in solid waste management were also a major factor behind the massive flooding in the Philippine capital, when a typhoon and monsoon battered the country last month.
The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), observed increasing dengue cases nationwide, at the onset of the wet season in Jun, and the agency expects more cases before the dry season in Dec.
From Jan 1 to Aug 10, the agency recorded a total of 150,354 dengue cases nationwide, 39 percent higher than the same period last year, and 396 related deaths.
“Dengue has a seasonal pattern. Case counts are expected to rise during the rainy months,” Health Secretary, Teodoro Herbosa, earlier said.
The DOH also recorded 2,115 leptospirosis cases from Jan 1 to Aug 3. The most recent epidemiological data recorded 255 new leptospirosis cases from Jul 21 to Aug 3, 17 percent higher than the 217 cases recorded from Jul 7 to 20.– NNN-PNA