The Department of Health on Monday warned against the risk of cholera and dengue outbreaks in the country as well as a possible spike in malnutrition cases linked to the El Niño phenomenon.
“Weather affects health. We are handling diseases that deal with drought. If there is drought, there is low food production and we are going to focus on malnourished-sensitive populations,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told reporters in a press briefing.
Food shortages and inaccessibility to food products due to high prices may result in malnutrition cases in poverty-inclined communities, Herbosa said.
DOH Usec. Eric Tayag also warned that water-borne diseases such as dengue and cholera may also spike during the dry spell.
“People tend to reserve water by filling up their water containers during the dry season. This may lead to an outbreak of dengue because these containers will become a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” he said.
“Groundwater comes out of the pipes and out of our tap water systems.
Cholera usually comes in when the water is turbid or has a different color. That happens during the El Niño season when there is lower water distribution. This is why pipes have to be replaced. This is why water-borne fecal diseases tend to increase,” Tayag added.
The World Health Organization last month said it is preparing for an increased spread of viral diseases like dengue, Zika, and chikungunya linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
“WHO is preparing for the very high probability that 2023 and 2024 will be marked by an El Nino event, which could increase transmission of dengue and other so-called arboviruses, such as Zika and chikungunya,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
He warned that climate change is fueling the breeding of mosquitoes, and the incidence of dengue has already risen sharply in recent decades, particularly in the Americas. Peru declared a state of emergency earlier this year amid a surge in cases of dengue.
Marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, El Nino last occurred in 2018-19 and takes place every 2-7 years on average.
The state weather bureau earlier warned some 36 provinces may experience a dry spell while at least two provinces may suffer from drought.
