ANTIPOLO CITY — It’s not only dengue but malaria cases, too, that have seen a significant rise in recent months in the province of Rizal, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported Friday.

Engineer Alberto Piñon, the malaria and dengue coordinator of the PHO, said more than 300 cases of malaria have been recorded in various parts of the province as of July. Most of the number of cases came from the remote and upland villages of Taytay municipality.

Malaria-carrying “anopheles” mosquitoes were reported to be present in the remote community of Hapay na Mangga and nearby sitios of Taytay specially on areas where there are stagnant streams and creeks, Piñon said.

Dr. Iluminado Victoria, PHO chief, said the mosquito-borne diseases are now the focus of the information drive of her office.

Health workers and other medical volunteers conduct lectures on dengue and malaria prevention.

Victoria said that although the number of malaria cases are are considered high, only one fatality from Taytay was reported to the PHO last April.

It was also learned that the malaria fatality had traveled from Africa, prompting Piñon to suspect that the patient got the disease abroad.

Rizal Governor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares, III, who is himself a doctor, has already instructed the PHO to intensify their health measures particularly on the prevention aspect and include the remote areas of the province in their information campaign.

Meanwhile latest statistics from the PHO also revealed that there were around 200 suspected and confirmed cases of the dengue all over the province. Two deaths coming from Cainta and Antipolo respectively were reported to the PHO monitoring center.

The PHO personnel including doctors and sanitation officers conducted a lecture on dengue and malaria prevention among students of Teresa National High School in Teresa town Friday afternoon.

Municipal health and sanitation officers of the various municipalities in the province are being encouraged to coordinate with the Provincial Health Office should they need additional personnel from the provincial capitol, in their respective information campaign on dengue and malaria prevention in their localities.

PHO officials said the local government units here are also encouraged to regularly conduct information drive in their own respective localities as they are familiar with their constituents and their barangays more than the Provincial Health Office officials.