CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado Wednesday directed all hospitals run by the Provincial Government of Bulacan (PGB) to extend the free 100 percent hospitalization and medication for dengue patients in the province.

The governor issued the directive to alleviate the plight of affected families and at the same time to encourage those who show symptoms to immediately seek medical attention.

Based on the record of the Provincial Public Health Office, as of January 2011, there are 1,581 reported dengue cases in the province with five deaths which continues to keep Bulacan still under a state of calamity.

Reports show that the highest recorded dengue cases, 532 or 33.6 percent of the total, occurred in patients from 6 to 12 years old.

At present, the City of San Jose Del Monte of this province holds the highest reported dengue cases totaling 282.

Irish San Pedro of the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit said that training provided by the Philippine Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response among staff of 57 Rural Health Units and City Health Offices and 31 private hospitals helped provide useful information on deadly diseases such as dengue.

Alvarado called on Bulacan residents to be responsible in maintaining cleanliness in respective areas to prevent the breeding of dengue carrying mosquitoes.

Aside from this free hospitalization and medication, the PGB also continuously conducts province-wide information drive to educate the public on ways to prevent and combat dengue, carries out search and destroy operation, activates barangay health response teams and dengue school watch teams, and distributes insecticides all over the province particularly in areas where death were reported.