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Philippines: Dengue Outbreak Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) Update n°2 DREF n° MDRPH033 (26 November 2019)

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Philippines
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IFRC
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A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

Number of cases for dengue in the Philippines has increased dramatically in 2019 compared to previous years. On 6 August 2019, the Government of the Philippines, through the DOH and NDRRMC, declared a national dengue epidemic. This is in response to the 371,717 cases recorded between January to October 2019 compared to 180,072 for the same period last year (106 per cent increase). With 1,407 deaths recorded compared to 927 for the same period last year (62 percent increase). The case fatality rate (CFR) is 0.38 per cent, lower than 0.51 per cent in the same period last year. The declaration was to ensure public safety and welfare amidst the increasing cases of dengue, and to ensure a whole-of-nation approach in addressing and halting dengue epidemic.

Based on the DOH’s Dengue Surveillance Report, 10 out 17 regions have exceeded the epidemic and alert threshold of dengue. At the time of publication, the most five affected regions are: Region IVA (CALABARZON), Region VI (Western Visayas), National Capital Region, Region III (Central Luzon), and Region X (Northern Mindanao). Refer to Figure 1 for more information.

There are 16 provinces which have declared state of calamity due to dengue: Aklan, Albay, Cavite, Capiz, Catanduanes, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Leyte, Mountain Province, North Cotabato, Paranaque, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Western Samar and Zamboanga Sibugay.

According to WHO, despite a steady decrease in the number of weekly reported cases, and the relatively mild rainy season so far, the overall risk at the national level remains high, especially because of the large number of deaths. The current outbreak is already seeing the largest number of cases and deaths reported in the Philippines in the past 10 years.