DOST to provide schools 1M anti-dengue trap kits

By Dexter A. See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The Department of Science and Technology, in coordination with the Department of Education, is set to distribute one million OL (Ovicidal-Larvicidal) trap kits in schools nationwide to reduce dengue.

This was affirmed by DOST Assistant Secretary Robert Dizon in a press conference, recently at the Benguet State University during the opening of the 2011 Regional Science and Technology Fair and Invention Contest cum Exhibit.

Dizon said that for an effective use of the OL Trap, four kits should be installed in each classroom (two inside and two outside), in which the project if completed could benefit 250,000 classrooms nationwide.

“The deployment of the one million OL trap kits will be done in tranches,” Dizon said.

He also affirmed the effectiveness of the OL Trap in combating dengue mosquito as what have been proven in the pilot areas where the said kits were rolled out.

“Our monitoring data shows dramatic decrease in dengue cases in some pilot areas where the OL trap kits were rolled-out,” Dizon said.

For region 2, DOST set OL trap in five schools in Claveria, Cagayan where in 2010 dengue cases were recorded in four barangays. With the project, there were no cases reported as of their monitoring report in August, thus, a significant improvement in the bid of the national government to curb the proliferation of dengue cases that pose a serious threat to the lives of people mostly children and elderly.

The same results were monitored in Eastern Visayas. Five barangays in Northern Samar, Southern Leyte and Leyte showed zero dengue cases after the OL Trap was rolled-out.

Dizon though still advised the public to continue cleaning up their surroundings and follow the 4S (Search and Destroy Dengue Mosquito Breeding sites, Self-Protection, Seek early consultation and Say no to indiscriminate fogging) anti-dengue drive of the Department of Health.