ILOILO – The famous Gigantes Island and two other island barangays in Carles town have been declared rabies-free – a big boost to the local tourism industry.
According to Provincial Health Officer I, Dr. Wendel Tupas-Marcelo, Gigantes recorded zero incidence of human and animal rabies in the last two years, and passed the evaluation and validation conducted by the Rabies Control Committee Technical Working Group recently.
In total, there are now 26 rabies-free areas in the province – six from Carles, 18 from Concepcion, and two from Ajuy – all of which are located in island barangays.
According to provincial veterinarian Dr. Darel Tabuada, the provincial government is aiming to declare the entire province of Iloilo rabies-free by 2030.
Achieving a rabies-free status is good for tourism and the well-being of the residents, he said.
“We have increased our funds for the procurement of rabies vaccines and increased our allocation to municipalities. We have also strengthened the implementation of our rabies control and prevention program,” Tabuada said.
The provincial government is also encouraging municipalities to organize their respective Municipal Rabies Control Committees.
Meanwhile, the six areas in Carles declared rabies-free are the four villages of the Gigantes, namely barangays Granada and Asluman in Gigantes Norte and barangays Gabi and Lantangan in Gigantes Sur, and the small islands of Balbagon and Bantigue.
The technical working group and Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, medical coordinator for the Rabies Program of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6, officially declared the said areas rabies-free on Oct. 7, 2022.
Marcelo said aside from having no record of human and animal rabies for 2020 and 2021, the island barangays were also recognized because of the following:
* for having at least 70 percent of their dog population vaccinated for three consecutive years
* creating and implementing local ordinance on prevention and control of rabies
* presence of effective Rabies Control Committee
* having operative and adequate surveillance system
* establishing a mechanism to ensure the availability of human and animal anti-rabies vaccines, implementing health education and advocacy
* integrating rabies program curriculum in elementary schools, and
* celebrating Rabies Awareness Month and World Rabies Day
“So based sa evaluation sang technical working group, nakapasa ang ining anum ka areas sa ila mga criteria para madeklarar nga rabies-free areas ini sila,” said Marcelo.
Moreover, Tabuada said the island barangays will receive P50,000 cash incentives from DOH-6 to be used to sustain activities in the prevention and control of rabies.
He added that the island villages are being prioritized because the movement of dogs is controlled and contained, unlike on the mainland.
Iloilo province recorded a total of 307,578 dog population, of which 153,174 or 49.80 percent were vaccinated. (With a report from LHC/Capitol news)/PN
