The Church’s health ministry has joined efforts in raising public awareness about the Zika virus and on ways to prevent its spread in the Philippines.
Camillian Father Dan Cancino, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Commission on Healthcare, said they have started working with people living in mosquito-prone areas.
“We started [an awareness drive] in areas vulnerable to the Zika virus. This is actually the same population that is vulnerable to dengue,” Cancino told Radio Veritas.
Local health officials are bracing for a likely outbreak of the virus as the mosquito-borne disease spreads to more countries.
The Health department on Wednesday said the country was still free from the virus and assured the public it can handle cases of Zika infection.
Cancino urged the government to adopt a more aggressive approach to thwarting an outbreak similar to the one that is already widespread in the Americas.
“Our appeal to the Department of Health is to [increase] awareness on the Zika virus. Although this is something new, there are still many people who are not aware of it,” he said.
While there is no specific treatment or vaccine to prevent Zika virus, health officials said prevention is still the key and should start in everyone’s backyard.
The priest said preventing an outbreak entails controlling mosquito populations and eliminating places where they lay eggs like water containers in and around the house.