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Village inspections to prevent dengue
Believing that prevention is the best way to head off any health crisis, the Saipan Mayor’s Office, together with the Bureau of Environmental Health and the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, will be conducting an islandwide inspection next week, starting in the south, to check for any place with stagnant water that could become a breeding ground for mosquitos.
In response to a report of a second case of dengue in the CNMI, the village inspections, which the BEH team would be doing first, will begin in Koblerville, San Antonio, Afetna, and Chalan Kanoa.
Communities are being asked to clean anything within their perimeter that could hold water (anything that attracts vermin and rodents), collect and segregate their trash, and cooperate in this outreach campaign against mosquitoes and other potential vectors.
There are a lot of debris, construction metals, and other materials that are either on the public easement or next to public easements.
Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang stressed, at a meeting yesterday with BEH and BECQ, the need for cooperation to prevent dengue from occurring on the island. “We need to work together, we want everyone to clean up.”
The Saipan Mayor’s Office, Bureau of Environmental Health, and Bureau of Environment and Coastal Quality will be conducting village inspections starting in Koblerville, San Antonio, Afetna, and Chalan Kanoa as a dengue preventive measure.
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BEH will also check water reservoirs in houses and do chlorine residue testing. BECQ has provided test kits to be used for these inspections.
“We will be concentrating not only on the trash education, but the water component too, to look into the water reservoir and things related to it. This is a good opportunity to reach out not only for dengue but for [public environmental health],” BEH director John Tagabuel said.
Homeowners are asked to cooperate in the dengue drive. The community should expect to see the BEH team going from household to household, to check on potential mosquito habitat.
