Bacolod City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson recently organized the Provincial Food and Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Committee, amid the rise of water-borne diseases in the province.
Noting also that only 11 local government units have formed such a committee, Lacson called on the remaining LGUs to do the same, in order to strictly monitor sources of water, which he blamed to the rise of water-borne diseases that has already claimed the lives of eight persons.
PHO records show that typhoid fever logged 623 cases with six deaths, since it was first recorded in January 5 this year, affecting 29 LGUs.
Four hundred fifty-seven cases of acute gastroenteritis were recorded, affecting 11 LGUs, PHO report added.
Cholera cases recorded 20 cases with two deaths in five LGUs, it added.
Lacson said he asked Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, the Negros Association of Chief Executives (ACE) president, to help encourage compliance from their members.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang stressed the Sanitation Code mandates that all LGUs create a water monitoring system.
In the case of Negros Occidental, we included food also to cover both food and water, Tumimbang said.
Unfortunately, there are still many LGUs who have not created such a committee, he added. Tumimbang attributed the rise of cases of water-borne diseases in the province to the lack of access to potable water supply, water sanitation and hygiene.
It cannot be addressed by the health sector, he pointed out. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)