DA 6 to re-activate Regional Rabies Consultative Council
The Department of Agriculture, Regional Field Unit No. 6 will re-activate the Regional Rabies Consultative Council (RRCC) in response to the increasing rabies incidence in the province of Iloilo and other neighboring provinces.
The organization of the RRCC will give way to the formulation of a comprehensive and consolidated regional rabies control program through proper coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and Local Government Units (LGUs).
The representatives of concerned agencies is scheduled to meet to August 1, 2006 at the DPWH conference room in order to organize and strengthen the regional rabies consultative council, assess the status of rabies both human and animals and the implementation of rabies control program, and conduct a planning workshop on rabies control and eradication program.
According to Dr. Vicente L. Nim, Chief, Regional Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL), Western Visayas is consistently among the regions in the country with highest incidence of rabies.
As of 2005, the province of Iloilo including Iloilo City was number three among the top ten provinces with 107 cases. The province of Misamis Oriental was number one with 119 cases, followed by Pampanga with 115 cases. The fourth province is Negros Occidental with 102 cases, fifth is Quezon city with 99 cases, six is Pangasinan with 79 cases, seven is Cebu with 54 cases, eight is Cavite with 49 cases, nine is Nueva Ecija with 42 cases and ten is Bulacan with 40 cases.
The top ten LGUs in Western Visayas with highest number of canine rabies cases from 2001 to June, 2006 are : Iloilo City - 260 cases, Bacolod City -120 cases, Oton - 44 cases, Sta. Barbara - 38 cases, Buenavista - 26 cases, New Lucena - 21 cases, Pototan - 19 cases, Dumangas and Talisay - 15 cases, and Pavia - 14 cases. A total of 572 cases was recorded among these top ten municipalities from 2001 up to June of this year.