Colombia: Health emergency declared in Cali due to dengue outbreak
The Mayor's Office of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, through the Ministry of Public Health, have declared a health emergency in the city due to dengue fever.
The measure is taken with an anticipatory nature and with the objective of intensifying preventive actions against dengue to guarantee effective and timely health care for citizens.
“From the Mayor's Office, we are not going to let our guard down. Therefore, we continue to intensify actions and taking preventive measures to clip the wings of dengue in Cali in the face of events that will take place in the second part of the year. Our task as Administration is protect the health and lives of the people of Cali,” explained the mayor of Cali, Álvaro Alejandro Éder Garces.
Based on the behavior of the epidemic during the first half of the year, the epidemiological projections for the second half of the year and the extension of the rainy season, which put more pressure on the health system, we have decided to declare a health emergency in the city, as a preventive measure,” said Germán Escobar Morales, Secretary of Public Health of Cali.
The declaration of the health emergency seeks to mobilize all sectors of the city to control the reproduction of the dengue-transmitting mosquito and protect the health services network.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this is the most serious dengue outbreak in Latin America in recent years.
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And although Cali is below the average mortality rate, you cannot let your guard down and the District Administration and the Ministry of Health have been strengthening measures to combat dengue.
In response, since January to date, the Cali Public Health Secretariat has announced:
More than 227,000 inspections of drains in the 22 communes of the urban area.
Nearly 3,500 visits to places of human concentration in 19 communes and the towns of El Hormiguero and Montebello.
More than 7,500 visits to homes in 18 of the 22 communes and the Montebello district.
Nearly 3,000 homes fumigated with motorcycle backpacks.
Nearly 5,000 blocks and more than 231,000 properties fumigated with heavy machinery in 16 communes and the districts of La Buitrera and Montebello.
577 biological control actions with mosquito fish.
Through the end of May, the Cali Public Health Secretariat has reported 19,545 cases of dengue in the city, including 170 cases of severe dengue, with about 1,000 cases recorded every week.
To date, four deaths related to this disease have been confirmed, while that another 13 are being investigated to determine their link with dengue.