by Rex Godinez Ortega, OC
(Photo: https://businessmirror.com.ph)
AS THE Iligan City Government is scrambling to destroy mosquito breeding grounds to stop the spread of dengue, MSU-IIT is making preparations to lend a helping hand.
The Institute, through its Department of Extension, is launching the #Trash Dengue Challenge that is designed to supplement the local government’s anti-dengue education and information campaign in every barangay.
Under the #Trash Dengue Challenge, a volunteer association in the campus called IIT Responders will visit two barangays of Iligan (San Roque and Tubod) on September 14 where they will conduct awareness-raising activities and implement community social mobilization.
The IIT Responders is composed of volunteer students, as well as Institute faculty and staff members.
According to Prof. Ma. Cecilia M. Ferolin, Director of the Department of Extension, the activities to be conducted by the IIT Responders are in partnership with the Sangguniang Kabataan of each barangay mentioned.
“The #Trash Dengue Challenge is a response to the biggest health issue confronting the city at present,” Ferolin says.
To recall, the Iligan City Government placed Iligan under a state of calamity on August 20 due to the alarming rise in dengue cases.
The Iligan City Health Office in news reports pegs the number of dengue cases at 1,138, with 14 resulting in death.
Some of those to get dengue are students from the Institute’s Integrated Developmental School, which prompts the administration to request fogging and misting operations to be conducted inside the campus.
The #Trash Dengue Challenge is just one of several activities that are organized under the Department of Extension’s Volunteering Program. Among the other activities scheduled for October is #Trash Plastics.
“The IIT Responders work side-by-side with the student government, KASAMA, the Red Cross Youth of MSU-IIT, the Barangays, and other partners,” Ferolin adds.