Bolivia Mobilizes Against Dengue Outbreak

The “United Against Dengue” public health campaign in Bolivia has seen medics visit more than 190,000 homes in the city of Santa Cruz. President Luis Arce says this has reduced the probability of contagion for more than 762,701 people. The mega-operation by the government mobilized health workers, the military, and police. Santa Cruz is on the border with Brazil which has also seen an outbreak of the illness. 

“We deployed more than 10,000 workers in all 12 districts of the municipality (..) We thank the Armed Forces, Police, technical, and medical personnel, public servants, and all the people of Santa Cruz who actively participated in this great crusade for health and life. The mission is not over, but if we continue to work together, we will defeat dengue,” stated President Arce

Bolivia’s Minister of Health, Jeyson Auza, praised President Arce’s commitment to the campaign, saying “Thanks to President Luis Arce, we have every level of the state mobilized in a huge campaign, with the objective of protecting the health of the population. This [campaign] has to remain in place over time.”

While health workers visited homes, the police and military fumigated public areas and destroyed mosquito nests. As of today, there are 5,549 cases of Dengue, with 18 dead since the start of the outbreak. 4,106 of those cases are in Santa Cruz, 518 in the Amazonian department of Beni, and the rest are distributed among other regions, each with very few cases in comparison with Santa Cruz and Beni. 

By Kawsachun News
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